The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is evaluating Ghana’s US$100 million request to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement by the Fund’s African Department Director Abebe Aemro Selassie, the IMF said it has received Ghana’s Rapid Credit Facility and is assessing it for approval.

“Last week, the IMF received Ghana’s request for a disbursement under the Rapid Credit Facility to help the country address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are working hard to evaluate the authorities’ request and bring it forward for Executive Board consideration as soon as possible”, he explained.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta recently said in Parliament that the nation is looking up to the IMF and the World Bank for funding to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The Rapid Credit Facility that Ghana is requesting provides rapid concessional financial assistance with limited conditionality to low-income countries (LICs) facing an urgent balance of payments need.

The facility was created under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) as part of a broader reform to make the Fund’s financial support more flexible and better tailored to the diverse needs of LICs, including in times of crisis.

It typically places emphasis on the country’s poverty reduction and growth objectives.

The Fund had pledged to provide US$2bn to help poor countries combat the coronavirus.

So far, more than 351,00 people have been infected with the coronavirus, and more than 15,330 have died.