Washington,
DC – Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) issued the following statement:
“Today,
I am pleased to say that our Executive Board approved immediate debt service
relief to 25 of the IMF’s member countries under the IMF’s revamped Catastrophe
Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) as part of the Fund’s response to help
address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This
provides grants to our poorest and most vulnerable members to cover their IMF
debt obligations for an initial phase over the next six months and will help
them channel more of their scarce financial resources towards vital emergency
medical and other relief efforts.
“The
CCRT can currently provide about US$500 million in grant-based debt service
relief, including the recent US$185 million pledge by the U.K. and US$100
million provided by Japan as immediately available resources. Others, including
China and the Netherlands, are also stepping forward with important
contributions. I urge other donors to help us replenish the Trust’s resources
and boost further our ability to provide additional debt service relief for a
full two years to our poorest member countries.”
The
countries that will receive debt service relief today are: Afghanistan, Benin,
Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, D.R., The Gambia,
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique,
Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands,
Tajikistan, Togo, and Yemen.
Press
Release
