MARRAKECH:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has met its fundraising target to increase concessional trust fund resources for the world’s poorest countries by $3 billion, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Saturday.
Georgieva said in a statement that the contributions completed during IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Morocco “will allow the IMF to continue to support low-income countries with zero-interest rate financing to meet their evolving needs.”
She said that PRGT (Poverty Reduction and Growth Fund) lending has increased five-fold to $30 billion since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with about 30 countries still with loan programmes.
Demand for the trust’s resources is expected to reach $40 billion through 2024, about five times the historical average.
The IMF had urged member countries to fill a $1.2 billion gap in the $3 billion subsidy account endorsed by the membership in 2021. Georgieva said 40 countries had stepped up to contribute, and one-third were emerging market economies.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2023.
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