## IMF Survey : Liberia Gets $36.5 Million From IMF’s New Trust for Disaster Recovery

_IMF News, February 27, 2015_

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**Canonical URL:** [IMF Survey : Liberia Gets $36.5 Million From IMF’s New Trust for Disaster Recovery](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/socar022415a)

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: February 27, 2015

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### Overview
- IMF Executive Board approved $36.5 million in debt relief to Liberia as a grant from a newly established trust to help low-income countries recover from natural disasters.
- The move aims to enhance Liberia’s international reserves and meet urgent balance of payments and fiscal needs resulting from the Ebola crisis.
- Date of publication: February 27, 2015.

### IMF financing package for Liberia
- $36.5 million in debt relief provided as a grant from the new trust.
- $45.6 million loan approved under the Rapid Credit Facility, a single, up-front payout for low-income countries facing urgent financing needs.
- These measures are expected to:
  - Improve Liberia’s reserve buildup to meet market demand for foreign exchange.
  - Act as a catalyst for additional grant financing from other official and private sources.
- Context of prior IMF support:
  - Package draws on $100 million in debt relief funded by IMF grants announced earlier that month.
  - Follows $130 million in emergency assistance disbursed in September 2014 to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
  - On February 11, the IMF Board approved release of $25.9 million to Guinea under its IMF-backed program and boosted financing under that program by an extra $37.7 million.
  - An ad hoc release of an additional $49 million in emergency financial assistance to Liberia was approved in September 2014 under its three-year Extended Credit Facility loan of $79.9 million (approved in November 2012), taking total funds available under the loan to about $130 million.

### Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT)
- The new Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust is a permanent feature of the IMF toolkit.
- Purpose: make available grants to provide debt relief to eligible low-income countries recovering from a catastrophic natural disaster or seeking to contain the potentially catastrophic spread of a life-threatening epidemic within and across international borders.
- Significance: first time the IMF has provided grants to support a country in containing an evolving natural disaster with international spillover effects.
- The debt relief initiative and additional lending were outlined by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde in November 2014 in Brisbane, Australia to G-20 heads of state.

### Economic outlook and costs of Ebola
- IMF staff projection: Liberia’s economy is projected to shrink by 1.4 percent in 2015 after barely growing in 2014.
- Short-term policy challenge: containing the Ebola outbreak, which is having a deeper and stronger impact than previously anticipated.
- Fiscal impact:
  - Fiscal deficit is expanding to meet spending priorities associated with the epidemic.
  - The fiscal year 2015 budget incorporates revenue losses and spending needs of about $200 million related to the Ebola outbreak.
  - Donor financing is helping to finance the wider fiscal deficit.
- Social impact:
  - Poor and vulnerable population groups are being disproportionately affected; the report calls for deployment of emergency safety nets to address rising poverty and food insecurity.
- Epidemiological outlook: incidence of new Ebola cases has declined recently but eradication will require more time and additional donor resources.
- Financing recommendation: Liberia’s significant external and fiscal financing needs should be covered by grants to avoid worsening the country’s debt burden.

*Source: IMF Survey, February 27, 2015.*

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## Content in this bundle

- [Cr1549pdf (PDF)](/-/media/websites/imf/imported/external/pubs/ft/scr/2015/_cr1549pdf.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

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## References

- [https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus](https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus)
- [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)
- [IMF Country Focus](https://www.imf.org/en/news/country-focus)
- [Press release](http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2015/pr1569.htm)
- [Liberia and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/lbr/index.htm)
- [Debt relief to help fight Ebola](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/NEW020515A.htm)
- [IMF loans to combat Ebola](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2014/new092614a.htm)
- [IMF response to Ebola crisis](http://www.imf.org/external/np/fad/ebola/index.htm)
- [boosted financing under the program](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/CAR021115B.htm)
- [Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust](http://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/ccr/index.htm)
- [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/socar022415a_