South Africa could seek IMF loan to fight coronavirus

South Africa has considered approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other institutions as a last resort for emergency funding to fight the coronavirus that has brought a national lockdown, the finance minister said on Sunday.

“If we approach the IMF or the World Bank or the Development Bank, it would be only if we run out of finance for health interventions. That’s all,” Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said in a teleconference.

On the same call, central bank governor Lesetja Kganyago said there would be no need to impose capital controls to limit an anticipated heavy selloff of the rand and local bonds following Moody’s decision to downgrade the country’s credit to sub-investment.