IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva

This will help the countries channel more of their scarce financial resources towards vital emergency medical and other relief efforts, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said

The International Monetary Fund on Monday announced it had approved immediate debt relief for 25 poor countries to help them channel financial resources towards vital emergency medical and other relief efforts in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

This comes as the number of COVID-19 cases and the death toll spike worldwide. The number of coronavirus cases on Tuesday rose to 19 lakh as the death toll neared 1.2 lakh. 

Most of the countries in the list are in Africa, but also include Afghanistan, Yemen and Haiti.

“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," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement.

"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," she said. 

The IMF chief said that the CCRT can currently provide about US$500 million in grant-based debt service relief, including the recent US$185 million pledge by the UK and US$100 million provided by Japan as immediately available resources. Others, including China and the Netherlands, are also stepping forward with important contributions, Georgieva said as she urged 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 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.