IMF Greenlights U.S.$101 Million Loan to Malawi for Covid-19

Malawi will be given U.S.$101.96 million additional funds from the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Rapid Credit Facility (RCF), to address the economic impact of Covid-19. Tao Zhang, IMF Deputy Managing Director has said the authorities are actively implementing measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and preserve macroeconomic stability and emergency financing under the second RCF, that will help close the immediate additional external and fiscal financing gaps. In July 2020,  the National Bank of Malawi projected that the country could be heading for economic recession with GDP projected to contract by 3.5% as the financial toll of the novel coronavirus continues to escalate. The loan from IMF is the second disbursement under the Rapid Credit Facility, which brings total IMF COVID-19 emergency support to Malawi to U.S.$193 million. This comes as the new president of the country Lazarus Chakwera marks just over 100 days in office since he took over from former President Peter Mutharika, in the tightly contested presidential election rerun held in June 2020.