IMF appeals for help to Ebola-hit countries

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IANS | 21 Oct, 2014
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Monday appealed to the donor community to provide grants to countries affected by the Ebola outbreak to avoid a decline in their economies.

The Ebola virus has already killed nearly 4,600 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia with the World Health Organisation (WHO) saying it was focusing on 15 African countries in its efforts to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

"In the countries currently affected by the Ebola outbreak, fiscal accounts are coming under considerable pressure," said Antoinette Sayeh, director of IMF's African Department.

She said the Ebola outbreak was exacting a heavy economic toll, with economic spillovers starting to materialise in some neighbouring countries, Xinhua reported.

Introducing the October 2014 IMF Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa in Tanzania's commercial capital Dar-es-Salaam, Sayeh said the affected countries should be supported through grants to enable them to accommodate higher Ebola-related spending.

"The grants should also help avoid an even more pronounced decline in economic activity," she said.

Sayeh said when grants were not immediately forthcoming, and provided that the public debt levels remained manageable, fiscal debts should be allowed to widen, subject to the availability of financing.

"Should the Ebola outbreak be more protracted or spread to more countries, it would have severe consequences in the affected countries and larger spillovers," she said.