The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a second six-month installment of debt service relief for 28 of the world’s poorest countries. These include Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Sao Tome and Principe.
With this measure, which follows an identical one enacted in mid-April for 25 countries, it is intended to assist these nations to cover the payment of the debt to the IMF in the next six months (from 14 October 2020 to 13 April 2021) and “free up scarce resources for efforts in terms of medical emergency and aid” in the face of the covid-19 pandemic.
The countries that received the first installment of aid in April are Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali , Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Togo and Yemen.