IMF Says Still Assessing Iran’s Loan Request

The International Monetary Fund is still assessing Iran’s request for $5 billion in emergency financing, a senior IMF official said.

“We have received a request for assistance, and since we have had limited engagement with Iran in recent times, the process of obtaining the information we require to assess the request is taking time,” Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, told Reuters on Wednesday.

“Any member of the fund has the same rights of access to the IMF financing and resources subject to the fund’s rules and approval by the director board,” he added.

Iran has asked the IMF for a $5 billion loan to deal with the outbreak of COVID-19.

Last week, President Hassan Rouhani said it would be unacceptable for the International Monetary Fund to unfairly refuse Iran’s application for the loan that it needs for the fight against the coronavirus amid reports that the US had been trying to pressure the financial body and block the request.