IMF calls for $15 bln this year to manage long-term risks of COVID

Countries around the world should provide $15 billion in grants this year and $10 billion a year thereafter to manage the long-term risks of COVID-19, the International Monetary Fund said in a new staff paper released on Tuesday.

The paper, prepared with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Global Fund, and charitable group Wellcome, said a new, more comprehensive approach was needed immediately to strengthen global health systems and limit the already staggering $13.8 trillion cost of the pandemic.

"The cost of inaction – for all of us – is very high. We need to act – now," IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said in a statement.