By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Group of Seven (G7) countries has approved $650 billion loan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to end COVID-19 pandemic.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced this on the fresh capital injection on Sunday at the conclusion of her virtual participation in the G7 Leaders’ Summit.
She explained that the G7 support of additional $650 billion allocation of the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) – the largest issuance in history — will help boost global reserves while providing space for necessary fiscal expenditures to exit the pandemic and enable more sustainable recoveries.
Kristalina said the Fund will be channelling SDRs and/or budget loans to reach a total global ambition of $100 billion for the most vulnerable countries.
She said: “This was a consequential Summit. The renewed spirit of international cooperation was palpable, with the G7 stepping up its efforts to help the world exit this crisis. I can assure you that the IMF is playing its part.”
Kristalina added: “I would like to thank Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the UK authorities for setting up a forward-looking agenda for the G7 summit, focusing on the most pressing challenges facing the world today.
“The IMF has been warning about dangerously diverging recoveries – and most recent data confirm that this trend not only continues, but deepens.
“Together with the World Bank, the WHO, and the WTO, IMF staff recently proposed a $50 billion plan to end the pandemic by vaccinating at least 40 per cent of people in every country by the end of this year and 60 per cent by mid-2022.
“The most urgent part of the plan is to redirect excess vaccine doses from advanced economies to the developing world. I welcome the G7’s commitment of one billion doses in the next year – it will make a material difference in the fight against the pandemic.
“Next, it is important to ensure that vials turn into actual shots in the arm and that production capacity is increased to protect against downside risks.”