NAN – British Finance Minister, George Osborne, on Monday in London, said Britain would contribute 50 million dollars to a new IMF fund to help West African countries hit by Ebola.
He said “I am delighted to provide 50 million dollars of critical resources to enable these countries to spend less money servicing their debt and more on public health interventions that will help save lives.
“Let it be on record that Britain is the first country to pledge cash to the new fund.’’
The minister said this would assist the affected countries to service their debts so they could use their own money to help save lives.
Osborne added that the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust was launched last week, designed to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to cope with their debt service payments to the IMF for the next two years.
He noted that the idea was that they could redirect other resources to fight the outbreak and to repair their economies and societies.
“It is so unfortunate that along with the human tragedy, the virus continues to have devastating impact on the economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone,” he said.
