23rd November, 2020
By Folasade Akpan
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the European Union on Monday announced a contribution of 183 million euros, (217 million dollars) to the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT).
PM NEWS notes that the CCRT provides debt service relief to countries hit by catastrophic events including public health crises.
Managing Director, IMF, Kristalina Georgieva said she was very thankful to the EU and its member countries for the generous contributions to the CCRT.
According to her, it is a critical step to helping the world’s most vulnerable countries provide healthcare and economic support for their people during the ongoing pandemic.
“This is an unprecedented crisis that has hit low-income countries, especially hard.
“Contributions like this will enable countries to free up resources to cope with COVID-19 and to increase health and social spending,” she said.
She said that the EU and the IMF had a strong partnership on development financing.
Georgieva, however, urged other member-countries to join the EU in contributing to the CCRT as contributions from them were instrumental in helping the fund support the most vulnerable countries.
Other contributor countries to CCRT include the UK, Japan, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, China, Mexico, Sweden, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Malta.
NAN