The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board has approved immediate debt relief for 25 countries of the IMF’s member countries, including Tajikistan, under the IMF’s revamped Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) as part of the Fund’s response to help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, remarked this in a statement issued on April 13.
According to her, this provides grants to the IMF’s 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.
“The CCRT can currently provide about US$500 million in grant-based debt service relief, including the recent US$185 million pledge by the U.K. and US$100 million provided by Japan as immediately available resources,” said IMF managing director. “Others, including China and the Netherlands, are also stepping forward with important contributions. I urge other donors to help us replenish the Trust’s resources and boost further our ability to provide additional debt service relief for a full two years to our poorest member countries.”
The countries that will receive debt service relief today are: Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, D.R., The 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.
It is to be noted that as of January 1, 2020, Tajikistan owed little more than 300 million U.S. dollars to the International Monetary Fund (due to the debt attracted by the National Bank of Tajikistan).
Meanwhile, Tajikistan’s external debt amounted to 2.888.2 billion as of January 1, 2020, which was equal to 35.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
