G7 EYES $100 BN FROM IMF TO COVID-RAVAGED COUNTRIES

The United States and other Group of Seven nations are considering reallocating $100 billion from the International Monetary Fund’s warchest to help countries struggling most to cope with the Covid-19 crisis, the White House said.

The issue will be on the table when G7 leaders discuss how to help steer the world’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic at a three-day summit in Cornwall, in southwestern England, which begins on Friday.

“The United States and our G7 partners are actively considering a global effort to multiply the impact of the proposed Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation to the countries most in need,” the US president’s office said.

G7 leaders are also expected to pledge to donate 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses to poor countries on the agenda in a show of Western democratic cohesion.

The club of leading economies -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and United States -- say a joint approach is the world’s best chance for recovering from the global health crisis, and tackling climate change.