$130 Million Endorsed by the International Monetary Fund to be Allotted to Mauritania

By Abdul Rahman Bangura–

Photo Credit: IMF

NEW AFRICA BUSINESS NEWS ( NABN ) Freetown, Sierra Leone- The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund(IMF) has recommended the allotment of $130 million (SDR 95.680 million) to be brought out under the Rapid Credit Facility to boost Mauritania to withstand with the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The financial and public effect of the plague is hastily scary, with a constriction of outcome foreseen in 2020. The IMF’s disaster aid, will give supplementary aids for health assistance and public safety programs.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ratified the distribution about $130 million to be drawn under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF). The RCF funds will go a very long way to support Mauritania’s pressing equilibrium of payments desire arising from the COVID-19 disaster, rated at close to $370 million; thus rendering room to boost expending on health assistance and public safety programs. In addition, The RCF funds would enable to catalyze extra donate ,also.

The thriftiness is presently swelled to contract by 2% this year and could be an across-the-board budget debt could rise to 3.4 percent of GDP. Following the Executive Board’s discussion, Mitsuhiro Furusawa – Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, put together the following statement:

“The COVID-19 pandemic is having a dramatic human, economic, and social impact on Mauritania. The short-term economic outlook has worsened shortly and growth is anticipated to swivel unfavorable this year, with drastic sufferings for the population, and the outlook is subject to consider the uncertainty. These improvements have allotted an increase to the urgent balance of payment and fiscal financing needs.

“The authorities have responded swiftly with measures to contain the pandemic and alleviate its fallout. Going forward, prioritizing health spending and targeted support to the most vulnerable households and sectors in the economy remains critical. The authorities are committed to full transparency and reporting of resources deployed for the emergency response, to audit crisis-mitigation spending once the crisis abates, and to publish the results. At the same time, they remain committed to the economic reform program supported by the ongoing ECF arrangement with the IMF. The program aims at using the fiscal space to increase priority spending on education, health and social protection and infrastructure, while mobilizing domestic revenues and maintaining prudent borrowing policies to preserve debt sustainability.

“The IMF’s financial assistance under the RCF will provide a sizable share of the financing needed to implement the anti-crisis measures. Additional concessional and grant financing from the international community will be critical to close the remaining financing gap and help Mauritania respond effectively to the COVID-19 crisis.”

Current Outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Disease- Coronavirus advisory information, World Health Organization & United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.  Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.

Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing. Source- WHO

who.int/emergencies

Coronavirus Q&A, World Health Organization

who.int/news-room

Coronavirus condition overview, World Health Organization

who.int/health-topics

United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov