Twenty countries may need assistance to alleviate food crisis, says IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday that up to 20 countries, many in Africa, may need emergency assistance to deal with the global food crisis.

At a conference in Saudi Arabia, the managing director of IMFKristalina Georgieva, also said that 141 million people across the Arab world are exposed to food insecurity.

The Fund on Friday approved a new window of loans targeting food shocks under its existing emergency financing instruments to help vulnerable countries deal with food shortages and high costs stemming from Russia’s war. in Ukraine.

Georgieva said 48 countries around the world are particularly exposed to the food crisis.

“Of the 48 countries, about 10 to 20 are likely to ask (for emergency assistance),” he said. Georgieva added that “many of them” are in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We are here for you,” she promised the members at the event.

O IMF will bolster the chorus advocating fighting restrictions on the food trade in order to alleviate the situation, and plans to fund the food shock window through last year’s Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) allocations.

Countries across the Middle East region and beyond have acted to support states struggling with high food inflation and shortages exacerbated by the geopolitical landscape and the growing risk of a global recession.

Georgieva said in a statement that Gulf Arab countries “plan to make more commitments soon” following the Arab Coordinating Group’s recent announcement of an initial $10 billion disbursement to alleviate the global food supply crisis.