THE International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) deployment of US$818bil (RM3.4 trillion), often without conditions, to help the world deal with the Covid-19 pandemic is spurring concern from some former officials that the institution is abandoning its focus as a hard-nosed lender of last resort for distressed economies.
The IMF last year allocated a record US$650bil (RM2.7 trillion) in reserves, called special drawing rights, for its 190 members countries to deal with pandemic fallout. The fund also dedicated US$168bil (RM707bil) to help 87 countries deal with the pandemic. About half of the nations received support through the Rapid Financing Instrument, a loan that comes mostly without conditions.