The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that it has approved an emergency loan request amounting to approximately $18 billion for 50 member countries out of a total of 189, to cope with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IMF stated that officials are working swiftly to review requests from countries that have not yet been approved, with current considerations including requests from Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Zambia.

Additionally, the IMF's Executive Board will review Egypt's request for emergency funding and the establishment of a reserve loan limit on May 11.

In mid-April, the IMF released a report forecasting that global economic growth this year would decline to a negative 3%, due to the COVID-19 outbreak that has halted economic activities worldwide. This figure represents the most significant contraction since the Great Depression over 80 years ago.

The IMF's 2020 World Economic Outlook report also predicts that the global economy will recover at a rate of 5.8% next year, but warns that this forecast is highly uncertain, depending on whether the COVID-19 outbreak will ease and when it will come to an end.

SOURCE : www.bangkokbiznews.com