IMF approves $114.8M emergency funding for South Sudan

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approves about USD 114.8 million in emergency funding support for South Sudan.In a statement, IMF said that the emergency financing under the Food Shock Window will help South Sudan to address food insecurity while maintaining social and growth-enhancing spending, explaining that four years of severe floods, in addition to the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic, exacerbated the already dire humanitarian situation, as about 8.3 million people, or two-thirds of the population, face acute food insecurity.IMF's statement pointed out that the fund's executive board also discussed a 9-month staff-monitored programme that was approved in February by its management with the aim of helping the authorities establish a track record toward an IMF-supported upper credit tranche (UCT) programme.In 2011, South Sudan also declared its independence from Sudan, but two years later it descended into a civil war that claimed 400,000 lives. Despite a 2018 peace agreement between the two main rivals, warfare has persisted, killing many civilians and forcing many more to flee their homes.