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IMF: Covid-19 effect is "worse" than financial crisis 5:34
(CNN Spanish) - At a press conference of the World Health Organization, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Gueorguieva, warned of the size of the challenge the world is experiencing due to the covid-19 outbreak.
“This is a crisis like no other. Never in the history of the IMF have we witnessed the world economy freeze. We are in a recession and it is much worse than the financial crisis. It is a crisis that requires us all to unite. WHO is here to protect people's health; the IMF to protect the health of the world economy. The two are under threat and only united can we face it, ”said Gueorguieva.
- READ: The US economy lost 701,000 jobs in March, the worst report since 2009
"In my existence, this is humanity's darkest hour, a great threat to the whole world, and we are required to be united," insisted Georgieva, a 66-year-old Bulgarian economist who became the head of the IMF last year. . I assure you that the IMF has deployed its total financial capacity of a trillion dollars for this emergency.
The agency is giving high priority to emerging economies and developing countries, particularly vulnerable for their fragile health systems, to which is added the economic blow. Countries' demand for financing is making history in the IMF's 75-year history, Georgieva said. Some 85 nations have knocked on the body's door so far, and simultaneously. On its website, the IMF lists 189 member nations.
Georgieva was present at the daily press conference on the coronavirus held by the WHO authorities, when there are more than a million confirmed cases in the world, including more than 50,000 deaths.
Its director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that if the authorities prematurely lift the restrictions and quarantines activated to stop the spread, the virus could re-emerge and the economic impact would be more severe and prolonged.
Oil prices at record lowsTedros recognized that for some countries debt relief is vital to serve their populations and avoid an economic collapse. This is an area of cooperation between WHO, the IMF and the World Bank. But, he warned that the best way to relax the restrictions and mitigate their economic effects is to attack the virus with the measures already known and recommended. Identify, test, isolate, treat each case, and track each contact.
Financing the health response is essential for saving lives and for long-term economic and social recovery. For this reason, he recommended that nations focus on three goals: ensuring that there are sufficient funds for diagnostic tests, collecting data, activating information and communication campaigns.
Second, that governments maintain the payment of wages to health workers, and guarantee financing to health institutions to buy essential medical supplies. Also, remove financial barriers so that citizens do not delay or abandon their treatment because they cannot afford it, complicating the control of the pandemic and risking the rest of society.
Georgieva and Ghebreyesus insisted that the pandemic has profound social and economic consequences, that it is a shared fight, to protect lives and livelihoods.
crisis IMFOMS