The International Monetary Fund’s executive board has approved the extension of $115 million in debt relief to 25 eligible low-income countries from January 11 to April 13 next year in an effort to help them ride out pandemic-induced headwinds.
Approval of the fifth and final tranche of debt service relief from the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) brings the total two-year Covid-related debt relief since April 2020 to $964m, the Washington-based lender said in a statement. The four previous tranches were approved on April 13, 2020, October 2, 2020, and April 1 and October 6 this year.
“This helps free up scarce financial resources for vital health, social and economic support to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the fund said.
The damage from the Covid-19 pandemic has been greater than that from the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, most notably in Africa and South Asia, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development. Renewed international support is needed for developing countries facing the threat of a “lost decade” amid an uneven global economic recovery, the fund said in September.
The recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic remains “hobbled” and the world economy could sustain as much as $5.3 trillion in losses over the next five years if the vaccine divide is not reduced, the IMF said.
Global debt soared to $226tn last year, the largest one-year debt surge since the Second World War. Global debt rose by 28 percentage points to 256 per cent of gross domestic product in 2020, according to the lender's latest update of its Global Debt Database.
In March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF's managing director, began an urgent fundraising effort to raise $1.4 billion in grants to help the CCRT provide debt relief for up to a maximum of two years, while leaving the trust sufficiently funded for future needs.
So far, donors have pledged contributions totalling about $852m. These donors included the EU, the UK, Japan, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Greece, China, Mexico, the Philippines, Sweden, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Malta and Indonesia, the IMF said.
This helps free up scarce financial resources for vital health, social and economic support to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
IMF
The fund’s executive directors said that CCRT grants for debt service relief “have helped its poorest and most vulnerable members to free up resources to tackle the pandemic and its repercussions”.
However, they said that total grant pledges received to date are short of the cost of the full two-year Covid-related debt service relief and well short of the $1.4bn fundraising target.
The approval of the fifth tranche will severely reduce the CCRT’s pre-Covid cash buffer and potentially limit its capacity to provide relief in future emergencies, the directors said. However, there is a compelling case for approval of the tranche in light of the continuing human and economic toll of the pandemic, the fund said.
The directors also agreed on the urgent need for continued fundraising efforts to address the CCRT’s underfunding, according to the statement.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
Liverpool v Manchester United - 3.30pm
Burnley v West Ham United - 6pm
Crystal Palace v Chelsea - 6pm
Manchester City v Stoke City - 6pm
Swansea City v Huddersfield Town - 6pm
Tottenham Hotspur v Bournemouth - 6pm
Watford v Arsenal - 8.30pm
Sunday
Brighton and Hove Albion v Everton - 4.30pm
Southampton v Newcastle United - 7pm
Monday
Leicester City v West Bromwich Albion - 11pm
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
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The specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.0-litre, twin-turbocharged W12
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 626bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh1,050,000
On sale: now
Who are the Soroptimists?
The first Soroptimists club was founded in Oakland, California in 1921. The name comes from the Latin word soror which means sister, combined with optima, meaning the best.
The organisation said its name is best interpreted as ‘the best for women’.
Since then the group has grown exponentially around the world and is officially affiliated with the United Nations. The organisation also counts Queen Mathilde of Belgium among its ranks.
Schedule for show courts
Centre Court - from 4pm UAE time
Johanna Konta (6) v Donna Vekic
Andy Murray (1) v Dustin Brown
Rafael Nadal (4) v Donald Young
Court 1 - from 4pm UAE time
Kei Nishikori (9) v Sergiy Stakhovsky
Qiang Wang v Venus Williams (10)
Beatriz Haddad Maia v Simona Halep (2)
Court 2 - from 2.30pm
Heather Watson v Anastasija Sevastova (18)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) v Simone Bolelli
Florian Mayer v Marin Cilic (7)
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COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
