DUBAI: To aid the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, Iran requested on Thursday the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an emergency funding.
The outbreak has hit the Islamic Republic hard, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet on Thursday.
The IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, “has stated that countries affected by #COVID19 will be supported via Rapid Financial Instrument. Our Central Bank requested access to this facility immediately”, Zarif said.
Iran’s Central Bank chief Abdolnaser Hemmati wrote on his Instagram page that “in a letter addressed to the head of IMF, I have requested five billion US dollar from the RFI emergency fund to help our fight against the coronavirus”.
According to an estimate by AFP,Iran is one of the countries most affected by the outbreak with 9,000 cases and 354 deaths.