INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) is preparing a new "short-term liquidity line " of credit that will provide predictable and renewable access to Fund resources to members with very strong policies.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has disclosed this in her 'Global Policy Agenda ' (GPA) released at IMF-World Bank Spring meetings on 15th April 2020. The GPA captioned' Exceptional Times—Exceptional Action ' has spelled out IMF strategy to cope with economic challenges thrown up unfolding Covid-19 pandemic.

Pitching for coordinated and sustained multilateral action to restore global growth, Ms Georgieva said: "financing from all layers of the global financial safety net should be considered to support countries with elevated financing needs".

According to GPA, IMF is in a strong position, with its US$1 trillion lending capacity, to meet the unprecedented demand for Fund resources from its members.

IMF has taken certain steps to enhance its lending toolkit in a short period of time. It is providing finance to member countries to address their urgent balance-of-payments needs in an accelerated way. These include credit flow through its rapid-disbursing lending vehicles. These are: the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) and the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).

IMF Executive Board decided to double annual access limits for the RCF and RFI to 100 percent of quota for the duration of the pandemic.

As for proposed short-term liquidity line, GPA says: "With our members, we are exploring additional tools that would meet financing needs, including those that involve Special Drawing Rights".

It says that governments must utilize all available policy tools to stabilize the economic and social situation. Fiscal policy must aim to increase health spending to fight the virus. Targeted and sizable fiscal support is particularly critical to help the most-affected people and firms, including those in hard-to-reach informal

sectors, and avoid widespread bankruptcies and layoffs while ensuring an efficient and equitable use of public resources. Such support will help end the crisis faster and at lower cost, creating the conditions to repair balance sheets and restore trade and financial flows once the recovery takes hold.

As put by GPA, "The global health crisis caused by COVID-19 is taking a heavy human toll and threatening people's livelihoods. The initial health crisis has

rapidly developed into an economic and financial crisis. It has brought large parts of the world economy to a sudden stop, causing a deep recession".