Washington, Jun 11 (FN Bureau) The US and other Group of Seven (G7) countries could extend up to USD 100 billion of IMF funds to countries that need urgent support in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House announced on Friday.
“The United States and our G7 partners are actively considering a global effort to multiply the impact of the International Monetary Fund’s [IMF] proposed Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation to the countries most in need. At potentially up to $100 billion in size, the proposed effort would further support health needs – including vaccinations – and help enable greener, more robust economic recoveries in vulnerable countries, and promote a more balanced, sustained, and inclusive global recovery,” a statement by the White House said.
The UK, which is currently hosting the G7 summit in the English county of Cornwall, said on Friday that the leaders of the world’s richest nations will agree to donate 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses to low-income countries. The US announced on Thursday that it will donate half a billion Pfizer vaccines to 92 low- and lower middle-income countries and the African Union. The vaccines will be produced at US facilities and the first shipments will start in August 2021, with 200 million doses planned to be delivered by the end of this year.