IMF Approves US$50 Million For Sierra Leone To Combat COVID 19

<p><em>IMF Approves US&dollar;50 million to combat COVID-19 pandemic<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> has learned that the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund &lpar;IMF&rpar; today approved the disbursement of SDR 35&period;26 million &lpar;US&dollar;50&period;37 million or 17 percent of quota&rpar; under the Rapid Credit Facility &lpar;RCF&rpar; to Sierra Leone to help meet the urgent balance of payments and fiscal needs stemming from the deep and persistent impact of the pandemic&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The Government’s quick and decisive actions to contain COVID-19 prevented a larger outbreak and saved lives&comma; yet they also came at an economic cost&period; Containment measures disrupted the transport of goods within the country&comma; with a heavy impact on the services sector&period; At the same time&comma; exports weakened significantly in 2020 due to weaker mining production and lower global demand&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The authorities’ policy response has focused on saving lives and protecting livelihoods&period; The Bank of Sierra Leone &lpar;BSL&rpar; swiftly introduced a special facility for importers to help prevent disruptions to the supply of food and essential goods&period; Benefiting from the lessons of the Ebola health crisis&comma; the authorities effectively deployed resources to support both health and containment efforts&period; Their Quick Action Economic Response Programme addressed the broader economic and social response&comma; via support to farmers&comma; direct cash transfers to vulnerable households&comma; and labor-intensive public works&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The economic costs of the crisis—including setbacks to the Government’s revenue mobilization goals—together with the necessary crisis response have exacerbated the already-tight fiscal financing and strained debt position&period; Continued support from development partners will be vital to recapture pre-crisis momentum and ensure a sustainable&comma; inclusive recovery&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;At the conclusion of the Board discussion&comma; Mr&period; Tao Zhang&comma; Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair&comma; made the following statement&colon;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Sierra Leone is grappling with serious and persistent effects of the COVID-19 pandemic&period; While the immediate health risks appear contained&comma; 2021 will be another challenging year&period; The economic and social impact is likely to be protracted&comma; exacerbating longstanding development challenges and the strained financing situation&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The authorities have responded promptly to the crisis&period; In 2020&comma; they scaled up health and other priority spending&comma; consistent with their Quick Action Economic Recovery Programme&period; The Bank of Sierra Leone’s special credit facility helped ensure that food supplies were not disrupted&period; The 2021 budget continues to prioritize COVID-19 and recovery-related spending within a tight budget envelope&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Emergency financing from the IMF under the Rapid Credit Facility will help meet urgent external and fiscal financing needs in 2021&comma; and ensure that the authorities can maintain their response and recovery efforts&period; In line with their National Development Plan priorities&comma; they continue to strengthen governance&comma; including transparently reporting on their COVID-19 response&comma; and publishing details of large emergency related procurement contracts&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Looking ahead and as <strong>IMF<&sol;strong> approves the RCF&comma; the authorities remain committed to maintaining macroeconomic and fiscal stability&comma; in line with their medium-term reform program supported by the Extended Credit Facility&period; They are taking steps to address vulnerabilities to debt sustainability&comma; with IMF technical assistance&period; Nevertheless&comma; Sierra Leone’s large development needs and tight financing situation will require concessional support&comma; ideally grants&comma; from the international community in the coming years&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa&comma; on the Atlantic Ocean&period; It’s known for the white-sand beaches lining the Freetown Peninsula&period; The capital city&comma; Freetown&comma; commemorates the nation’s slave-trade history with the Cotton Tree landmark and King’s Yard Gate&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;