New IMF reserves could fund vaccinations for low, middle-income nations

WASHINGTON: Moves to bolster the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) emergency reserves could provide the US$44bil (RM181.83bil) needed to vaccinate 70% of the population in lower and middle-income countries by the end of 2022, at no added cost to rich countries, a new Rockefeller Foundation report finds.

Finance officials from the Group of 20 major economies are expected to back a US$650bil new allocation of the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) this week to help countries cope with the pandemic and its economic fallout.