A dozen countries in the Middle East and Asia are asking the IMF for economic help

A dozen countries in the Middle East and Central Asia have reached out to the International Monetary Fund requesting financial support due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a blog post by the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department director, Jihad Azour.
Azour said work is ongoing to “expedite approval” of requests for assistance, especially for countries already struggling with other issues.
“This challenge will be especially daunting for the region’s fragile and conflict-torn states -- such as Iraq, Sudan, and Yemen -- where the difficulty of preparing weak health systems for the outbreak could be compounded by reduced imports due to disruptions in global trade, giving rise to shortages of medical supplies and other goods and resulting in substantial price increases,” he said. 
Azour did not specify all of the countries that had requested support, but said the IMF's executive board will consider a request from the Kyrgyz Republic for emergency financing "later this week."
By

Popular posts from this blog

Maintain cordial relationship with Wamakko, Shettima urges Sokoto governor

Image
Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has urged the Governor of Sokoto State, Ahmed Aliyu, to maintain a cordial relationship with the former governor of the state and his political mentor, Senator Aliyu Wamakko. He urged Governor Aliyu not to allow rumour mongers to create a rift between him and Senator Wamakko, who is also the leader of APC in Sokoto state. He made the call during a visit to Governor Ahmed Aliyu at the Government House, Sokoto. According to him, enemies of the state will try their best to see that the good relationship existing between the Governor and Senator Wamakko is jeopardised. Shettima added that enemies will employ different tactics such as peddling rumours to truncate the healthy relationship between Governor Aliyu and Senator Wamakko. He reminded Governor Aliyu of the need to do everything humanly possible to maintain the cordial relationship existing between him and his mentor, Senator Wamakko. He said, “Maintain your relationship with Wamakko becau...
Read more>>>

Stop $5bn annual freight to foreigners, LCCI tells FG

Image
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the President, Bola Tinubu, to stop the revenue leakage of more than $5bn paid annually as freight to foreign shipowners. LCCI in a position paper on current matters of national economic developments signed by its president, Dr Michael Olawale-Cole, obtained by the PUNCH, said the move would help to address revenue leakages. The LCCI also frowned at the recent bid by the Federal Government to merge the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Federal Inland Revenue Service, and Nigeria Customs Services into the Nigerian Revenue Services. Olawale-Cole advised the government to ensure that implementing the proposed merger did not impede the ease of doing business. He said, “While we commend the government on some of its recent measures to stop wasteful spending, we urge the administration to halt the revenue leakage of more than $5bn paid as freight to foreign shipowners. The chamber’s perspectives are in tandem ...
Read more>>>

Man, 27, says he can't find a job because he looks like a child

Image
A 27-year-old man has gone viral after complaining that he can’t get job because he looks like a child. Videos of Mao Sheng, from Guangdong province, China, spread through social media.   In the video, he complained that the way he looks is proving to be a serious problem in his life.   He said most employers don’t believe him when he says how old he is, while others think his appearance will cause issues with authorities who could start snooping around if they think child labour laws are being broken.  The original video was recorded on a street in Dongguan, China, and sees him vent his frustration that he can’t support his father financially because he can’t find work.  He even said that he had initially gone out looking for work with a friend but while his friend had found work quickly, he was left without any offers. The video immediately went viral and he has now reportedly had a number of possible employers interested. A f...
Read more>>>

Orijin Champions Reinvention At Fuji: A Opera's Fuji Is Art Exhibition and Fuji Vibrations

Image
Orijin, in its signature style of blending the old with the new, partnered Fuji: A Opera for a series of fuji-themed experience; including a digital artwork exhibition titled #OrijinalFujiIsArt and Fuji Vibrations - a platform for blending fuji music styles with other genres of music in December 2021.  The multi-layered experience, started with the Orijinal Fuji Is Art exhibition, designed in two folds: outdoor installations and a gallery exhibition which thrilled Art lovers with the presentation of digital artworks by 24-year-old Nigerian digital artist, Bidemi Tata whose works visualized the tenet and character of the Fuji music sub-culture.     The grand finale of the Art Exhibition, an exclusive VIP Preview, took place at Untitled, Maitama Sule, Ikoyi Lagos on Sunday, December 5 th  as Bidemi took guests on a journey using comic-book sensibility to express a bold representation of the Fuji music sub-culture, grounding this age-old genre of music in relevance with...
Read more>>>

20-year-old UNILORIN student commits suicide after ‘online lover’ absconded with N500,000 she lent him for his mother's 'breast cancer treatment'

Image
A 20-year-old student of the University of Ilorin, Sanni Hameedat, reportedly committed suicide after lending a boy she met on the social media platform, Snapchat, the sum of N500,000.   Rubiks, the private hostel management she resided in before her death confirmed the incident to  Punch  in a statement on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.    According to the management, Hameedat was undergoing her SIWES programme before the incident happened.   The management asserted that the cause of her death was not unrelated to the pressure from the app agents, who were demanding fast repayment, coupled with her brother’s inability to assist her financially, which led to depression.    “The cause of suicide was traced to financial misappropriation. She was entrusted with a significant sum of money by her mother. She crossed paths with a guy on Snapchat and developed a friendship," the statement said.    "When the boy claimed that his mother...
Read more>>>