Coronavirus outbreak: Iran asks IMF to provide its first loan since 1962

Iran said that it has sought financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has not lent it any money since 1962, to help combat coronavirus. Iranian Foreign Minister took to Twitter to ask for financial assistance from the IMF and urged Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to provide immediate access.

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Georgieva had assured in a blog, on March 4, that the IMF is ready to respond to the threat of coronavirus including $50 billion of financial support. She said that the IMF has rapid-disbursing emergency financing of up to $10 billion for low-income countries that can be accessed without a full-fledged IMF program.

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'Identifying vulnerable countries'

The 66-year-old Bulgarian economist had also said that other members can access emergency financing through the Rapid Financing Instrument. Georgieva added that she is particularly concerned about low-income and more vulnerable members which may see a rapid rise in financing needs as the economic and human cost of the virus escalates.

“Our staff are currently working on identifying vulnerable countries and estimating potential financing needs should the situation deteriorate further,” she wrote.

Iran has been facing a severe threat of the coronavirus with a steep rise in the number of confirmed cases and the death toll. Iran has reported over 10,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 429 deaths due to the deadly infection.

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