The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Vera Songwe, met with African Ministers in charge of finance and the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, to discuss immediate economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the virtual meeting, which was convened by the ECA and IMF, the ministers were unanimous in their call for additional liquidity, $500 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) , better market access, more concessional resources and an extension in the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), given the prolonged nature of the pandemic.
“We all know that the COVID-19 pandemic will persist for the next 2-3 years. Why are we extending the DSSI for 6 months and not 24 months?” said Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.