The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved nearly $600 million in emergency lending for Tanzania’s health system and recovery efforts. $189 million were disbursed under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) and $378 million under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), totaling $567 of quota.
Mr. Bo. Li Deputy Managing Director and chair stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted negatively on Tanzania’s macroeconomic outlook and the health and wellbeing of its population. In 2020 the growth decelerated and it is anticipated that it will subside in 2021. This is largely affecting the country to push further into poverty and negatively affecting employment in the country. The risk of external and public debt distress increased to moderate mainly due to the effect on tourism exports.
The approved resources will help the nation’s “urgent balance of payment needs” which are coming from the virus. The IMF said that the resources should help spur support for the nation’s other development partners. The announcement was followed by the talks between the IMF and Tanzania about resuming publishing the data on the spread of COVID-19 by the government to determine the severity of the outbreak.
