The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has granted debt relief to 25 counties.

This is 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.

African countries are the largest recipient, numbering 20.

They are Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo and D.R Congo. Others are The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique and Niger.

The rest are Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone and Togo.

The other countries are Haiti, Nepal, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan and Yemen.

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director said: “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.

“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. 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.”