IS THAT ENOUGH? IMF Says $50 Billion Needed for COVID Pandemic Aid
Posted on 05/21/2021
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) disclosed a US$ 50 billion proposal to end the COVID-19 pandemic by vaccinating at least 40% of the population in all countries by the end of 2021 and at least 60% by the first half of 2022. The US$ 50 billion proposal was drafted by IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath and staff economist Ruchir Agarwal. The proposal builds upon research taken by the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, United Nations, World Health Organization, and other groups.
“Advanced economies – asked to contribute most to this effort – would likely see the highest return on public investment in modern history, capturing 40 per cent of the GDP gains and roughly US$1 trillion in additional tax revenues,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in her prepared remarks.
Implementing the plan would cost around US$ 50 billion, with US$ 35 billion to be paid for by grants from wealthy countries, private and multilateral donors, and the remaining US$ 15 billion to be funded by national governments using low- or no-interest financing available from multilateral development banks.
Since March 2020, the IMF has provided an estimated US$ 108 billion in financial assistance to 85 countries to support their response to the COVID pandemic.