IMF eyes extra cash for poor countries
04-03-2009
The International Monetary Fund has said it will need to provide at least US$25 billion in emergency financing this year to the poorest countries amid the global financial crisis. IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn called for swift and generous action from the international community to help avert the potentially devastating effects of the deepening crisis on the most vulnerable countries. "After hitting first the advanced economies and then the emerging economies, a third wave from the global financial crisis is now hitting the world's poorest and most vulnerable countries," Mr Strauss-Kahn said in a statement. "This puts at risk the major achievements of higher growth, lower poverty, and greater political stability that many low-income countries have made over the past decade. I urge donors to rise to the challenge and provide the financing needed to preserve these hard-won gains and prevent a humanitarian crisis," he said.
