IMF Approves Funds For Ebola Fight

IMF Approves Funds For Ebola Fight

The board of the IMF approved $129.5 million in funds for three West African countries to aid in their battle with the Ebola epidemic that has claimed hundreds of lives on the Western part of the continent. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are the three countries who will receive financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund in their struggle to contain the harshest epidemic of the Ebola virus in known history.

Economists warn that beside the humanitarian aspect of the epidemic, the countries most affected can also suffer financially as businesses and tourism has decreased substantially since the outbreak. The Director of the African Department of the IMF, Antionette Sayeh, said the funds have been already approved and will be transferred to the central banks of each country within next week.

Out of the total funds $41.4 million will reach Guinea, $48.3 million will go to Liberia and $39.8 million will go to Sierra Leone. Sayeh added that the funds come as the IMF tried to estimate the decline in revenue each country would see due to the epidemic.

IMF officials said that the three countries' economy could see a 1.5 to 3.5 percent decline this year alone. She also said that hopefully, with help from numerous international institutions and NGO's the epidemic would soon be contained before any more social, economic or humanitarian damage is done. 

Posted by George Daniels on Monday September 29 2014, 5:35 AM EST. Ref: VoA. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0