Phl excluded in list of countries seeking IMF emergency aid

The Philippines is not seeking any emergency financing from multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) for countries hit by soaring food prices and shortages brought about by the Russia-Ukraine war.

IMF resident representative Ragnar Gudmundsson told The STAR that the Philippines is not among the 20 to 30 countries seeking expanded emergency financing from the multilateral lender.

“At this point, there is no related request from the Philippines, which would not be part of the 20 to 30 countries referred to in the article,” Gudmundsson said.

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva earlier confirmed a report from Reuters that the lender is moving toward expanding emergency financing for 20 to 30 countries badly affected by surging food prices and shortages.

Georgieva said the IMF’s executive board members were “very positive” about the proposed “food shock window” when they met informally on Monday, and she hoped they would approve it to allow a swift disbursal of funds.

“This is a proposal that is still under consideration by the executive board,” Gudmundsson said.

The plan, first reported by Reuters on Monday, would allow the IMF to provide additional, unconditional emergency financing to countries hit hard by the food crisis unleashed by Russia’s war against Ukraine, and global inflation following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program would be available to countries that do not already have a larger IMF program. Some 50 countries are estimated to be eligible, of which 20 to 30 are expected to have the greatest need.

IMF has lent over $268 billion to 93 countries since the start of the pandemic and says it is looking at “all options to enhance our toolkit, including to help countries impacted by the food crisis.”

It has also provided $27 billion in loans to 57 low-income countries, and continues to encourage its member countries to “come to us early for needed financial support.”

For the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently raised its inflation forecast to 5.4 instead of five percent for this year, following an uptick in food prices as well as in the transport sector.

The BSP remains optimistic for the following year, lowering its inflation projections to four instead of 4.2 percent for 2023 and to 3.2 instead of 3.3 percent for 2024.

Inflation averaged 4.9 percent in the first eight months of the year despite easing to 6.3 percent in August from 6.4 percent in July.

The BSP Monetary Board is expected to continue its tightening cycle by delivering another rate hike on Sept. 22 to tame inflation. The central bank has so far raised interest rates by 175 basis points, bringing the benchmark rate to 3.75 percent from an all-time low of two percent.