On Monday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced to provide immediate relief the 25 nations in order to help them plan their financial resources in the time of the pandemic. The COVID-2019 that originated from Wuhan, China has taken down the world economy by surprise in the course of only two months. All the international administrative bodies and financial institutions are constantly trying to compensate the losses in a feat to overcome the pandemic situation and come out victorious with minimum fatalities. The IMF came up with the list of 25 nations from under its Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT).

The first countries that have been decided to receive debt service relief from the CCRT are Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, 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, the IMF stated.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that the CCRT had close to $500 million in resources on hand, including newly formed pledges of $185 million from Britain, $100 million from Japan, and undisclosed amounts from the country of China, the Netherlands and several others. The newly acquired funds are pushing to raise the amount available to $1.4 billion.

“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,” Georgieva said in a statement.

Another IMF spokeswoman said that close to $215 million has been sanctioned to provide relief to the countries under the CCRT.

Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a non-profit group, said, “The grants would help the IMF’s poorest members, including the Central African Republic, which has only three critical-care unit beds for a population of 5 million.”

An IMF spokesman said the fund was looking at actions that could be taken quickly, but “another sale of gold reserves is not currently on the table.”