The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday disclosed that it has approved a fifth and final tranche of debt service relief under the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) for 25 member countries with eligible debt service falling due to the IMF from January 11 to April 13, 2022.
The Fund in a statement explained that the approval of the fifth tranche, totaling about $115 million, follows four prior tranches approved on April 13, 2020, October 2, 2020, April 1, 2021, and October 6, 2021.
IMF said the relief would help free up scarce financial resources for vital health, social, and economic support to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The tranche completes the two-year COVID-related debt service relief first approved on April 13, 2020, totaling a cumulative debt service relief of about $ 964 million”, it stated.
Recall that in March 2020, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva launched an urgent fundraising effort to raise $1.4 billion in grants for the CCRT. This would enable the CCRT to provide financial assistance for COVID-related relief on debt service for up to a maximum of two years, while leaving the CCRT adequately funded for future needs.
IMF said so far, donors have pledged contributions totaling about about $852 million, including from the European Union, the UK, Japan, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Greece, China, Mexico, the Philippines, Sweden, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Malta, and Indonesia.
Some of the benefiting countries include: Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Mali, Liberia, Rwanda amongst others.
IMF encouraged CCRT-eligible countries to continue making progress on implementing governance safeguards commitments regarding COVID-19 related spending, and reiterated the importance of transparency and accountability.
Credit: Vanguard