IMF releases priorities agenda with focus on coronavirus

IMF releases priorities agenda with focus on coronavirus

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Thursday its key priorities agenda of supporting member countries in their efforts to alleviate the repercussions of the coronavirus.

Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF's managing director, stated that the agenda is valid through June 2021. It focuses on the activities of critical importance to IMF member countries.

The agenda covers restoring confidence to foster jobs and economic growth, including addressing debt burdens that have been exacerbated due to the pandemic.

Georgieva said the IMF has an ambitious work agenda to reduce debt vulnerabilities, strengthen transparency, and improve the architecture for sovereign debt resolution.

On 8 January, the IMF announced that it maintained its lending capacity at $1 trillion for the coming years, saying that this is of particular importance in the context of increased demand for IMF resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing heightened risks.

The agenda includes extending assistance to the most vulnerable countries, chiefly for low-income developing countries, and pushing these countries' efforts to attain their sustainable development goals amid the ongoing crisis.

The agenda also aims at supporting a transformational recovery for a more sustainable and resilient global economy, including the role that the macroeconomy, monetary policy,