The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund added Kyrgyzstan to the list of beneficiary countries of the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT). Tigran Poghosyan, IMF Resident Representative for the Kyrgyz Republic, told today.
In March 2020, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva invited high-income countries to create a special fund to help low-income countries. In particular, it was about reduction of the level of their debt burden.
«Kyrgyzstan was included in the list of these states last week. Work of the CCRT is organized in such a way that payments that the Kyrgyz Republic and other countries had to make on previous loans will be forgiven for some time. It is a period of three months. This is approximately $12 million that Kyrgyzstan had to repay to the IMF for previous loans. Instead of the Kyrgyz Republic, the money will be transferred to the IMF through this trust,» Tigran Poghosyan told 24.kg news agency.
The IMF website also notes that this is the fourth tranche of the debt service relief, but Kyrgyzstan was included in the number of beneficiaries only now, together with Lesotho. A total of 24 eligible low-income countries are to get the support. In total, within the framework of the fourth tranche, they will get $124 million.
«This debt service relief helps free up scarce financial resources for vital medical, social and economic support to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subject to the availability of sufficient resources in the CCRT, debt relief for all beneficiary countries can be provided until April 2022,» the statement says.
