South Africa gets World Bank loan
Successive lockdowns meant to protect people have led to the closure of thousands of businesses.
The World Bank has approved a loan of US$750 million to South Africa linked to Covid-19, aiming to help protect the poor and support economic recovery from the pandemic, the National Treasury said on Friday.
The continent’s second largest economy, South Africa has been hit hard by four waves of infection that killed close to 94 000 people and infected 3.5 million in Africa’s worst caseload.
Successive lockdowns meant to protect people have led to the closure of thousands of businesses, swelling an army of unemployed as South Africa’s jobless rate hit records in 2021.
“The World Bank budget support is coming at a critical time for us,” Dondo Mogajane, the director-general of the National Treasury, said in a statement.
Funds from the development policy loan would help bridge a financing gap stemming from additional spending on the Covid-19 crisis, he added.
IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects to raise its forecast that the Covid-19 pandemic will cost the global economy US$12.5 trillion through 2024, the head of the global lender said on Thursday.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told an event hosted by the Financial Times that supply chain disruptions, inflation and tighter monetary policy were "throwing cold water on the recovery everywhere."
She said huge gaps in Covid-19 vaccine rates and the overall widening divergence between rich and poor caused by the pandemic, along with learning losses and increased gender impacts, would cause more protests, tensions and insecurity. -Reuters
The continent’s second largest economy, South Africa has been hit hard by four waves of infection that killed close to 94 000 people and infected 3.5 million in Africa’s worst caseload.
Successive lockdowns meant to protect people have led to the closure of thousands of businesses, swelling an army of unemployed as South Africa’s jobless rate hit records in 2021.
“The World Bank budget support is coming at a critical time for us,” Dondo Mogajane, the director-general of the National Treasury, said in a statement.
Funds from the development policy loan would help bridge a financing gap stemming from additional spending on the Covid-19 crisis, he added.
IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects to raise its forecast that the Covid-19 pandemic will cost the global economy US$12.5 trillion through 2024, the head of the global lender said on Thursday.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told an event hosted by the Financial Times that supply chain disruptions, inflation and tighter monetary policy were "throwing cold water on the recovery everywhere."
She said huge gaps in Covid-19 vaccine rates and the overall widening divergence between rich and poor caused by the pandemic, along with learning losses and increased gender impacts, would cause more protests, tensions and insecurity. -Reuters
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