UAE allocates $200 million to support low-income countries

The UAE has decided to allocate $200 million to expand concessional lending to low-income countries.

The UAE Ministry of Finance said in a statement that this step was in line with the UAE’s “constant pursuit to achieve the first goal of the Sustainable Development Goals announced by the United Nations, namely the eradication of poverty and other challenges that the countries of the world must join hands in order to face them for a better and more sustainable future for all”.

Mohammed bin Hadi al-Husseini, Minister of State for Finance, announced the initiative on the sidelines of the meeting of the International Monetary and financial committee held within the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Marrakech, Morocco.

“The UAE is keen to “achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by all available means, including participating in Financing Trust Funds, which come within the framework of the country’s strategy and vision aimed at cooperation and coordination with regional and international development organizations and institutions, in a way that serves development projects and enhance the utilization of projects, services and financing mechanisms provided, and confirms the UAE’s commitment to support international initiatives that carry humanitarian dimensions”, Al-Husseini said.

The growth and poverty reduction trust fund was established in January 2010, to address the challenges facing low-income countries, and is a key tool of the IMF to provide concessional financing (currently at zero interest rates) to low-income countries, which are facing high inflation, persistent food insecurity, increasing debt risks and rising borrowing costs.