The International Monetary and Financial Committee, the policy advisory committee of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund, has said it will introduce support for low-income countries, including Nigeria, on how to reduce poverty.
The chairperson of the committee, Ms Magdalena Andersson, who is also the minister for finance of Sweden, said this while reading out the communiqué of the 43rd meeting of the IMFC at the ongoing virtual spring meeting of the World Bank Group and the IMF. She said, “We welcome the IMF’s support to help members transition to upper-credit-tranche-quality programmes for countries that move out of the emergency phase of the crisis.
“We call on the IMF to explore how to further support vulnerable low-income and middle-income countries in line with its mandate.
“We call on the IMF to work with its members to continue exploring ways for voluntary post-allocation channelling of SDRs to support members’ recovery efforts.“We support the IMF to explore reforms to its concessional financing instruments for low-income countries and to increase the lending capacity of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, and to secure sufficient contributions for a final tranche of debt service relief from the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, including from new participants for both trusts.”
She said the committee supported the IMF’s enhanced assistance to help address particular challenges faced by fragile and conflict-affected states, small states, and countries hosting refugees.
It also encouraged members to contribute to Sudan’s financing package for the clearance of arrears to the IMF and debt relief under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.
– Punch