COVID-19: IMF lists 4-point plan to protect global economy

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has highlighted 4-point plan that will help protect global economy from the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic which has affected over a million people globally with over 91,828 dead and over 300,000 recovered from the virus.

In a document titled- Confronting the Crisis: Priorities for the Global Economy, Managing Director of IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, said barely three months ago, the IMF expected positive per capital income growth in over 160 member countries in 2020, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, the number has been turned on its head.

“Today, that number has been turned on her its head: we now project that over 170 countries will experience negative per capital income growth this year,” she added.

The IMF boss said the body is working on a 4-point plan to prevent a global meltdown.

Ms. Georgieva said: “Lifelines for households and businesses are imperative. We need to prevent liquidity pressures from turning into solvency problems and avoid a scarring of the economy that would make the recovery so much more difficult.”

She said the first one is to continue with essential containment measures and support for health systems. Others are to shield affected people and firms with large, timely, targeted fiscal & financial sector measures, reduce stress to the financial system and avoid contagion, and a plan for a recovery phase, minimizing the potential scarring effects of the crisis.

“We have $1 trillion in lending capacity and are placing it at the service of our membership. We are responding to an unprecedented number of calls for emergency financing—from over 90 countries so far. Our Executive Board has just agreed to double access to our emergency facilities, which will allow us to meet the expected demand of about $100 billion in financing.”

Georgieva also said the world finance body is reviewing its tool kit, and working with donors to increase its catastrophe containment and Relief Trust to $1.4 billion.

“Together with the World Bank, we are calling for a standstill of debt service to official bilateral creditors for the world’s poorest countries,” she added.