April 2 (SeeNews) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it is doing its best to provide some 165 million euro ($180 million) in emergency financing to Bosnia already in April in order to help the Balkan country mitigate the coronavirus impact.
"We are moving as fast as possible to provide emergency assistance under a Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). We currently expect to disburse about €165 million in the second half of April to help the authorities ramp up health spending and finance economic stabilization measures," the IMF resident representative in Bosnia, Andrew Jewell, said in a statement on Wednesday.
He added that the disbursement could exceed 165 million euro if the Fund’s executive board decides to increase Bosnia's borrowing limit under the RFI.
Last month, Bosnian prime minister Zoran Tegeltija said that the government plans to use the IMF financing to support the country's health system, as well as to provide direct support to the local economy.
In his statement, IMF's Andrew Jewell also noted that Bosnia's currency board has been a pillar of stability for the country for over a two decades, contributing to low inflation, financial stability, and confidence in the currency. Therefore, he warned, any attempt to use the central bank’s international reserves for fiscal purposes amid the current crisis would undermine the currency board and add a financial and currency crisis on top of the economic and humanitarian crisis that Bosnia faces now.
"For this reason, the IMF will not provide any financial assistance to BiH under the RFI if the currency board arrangement is compromised," Jewell said.
($=0.915791 euro)