St Vincent to receive IMF funds

St. Vincent is down to receive US$3.25 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to assist with its recovery from the battering it got from last year's Hurricane Tomas.



The money is coming out of a Rapid Credit Facility agreed between the Ralph Gonsalves government and the IMF.



Under that system the full amount of funds will be released immediately.



The damage suffered by St Vincent from the hurricane has been estimated at over five per cent of the value of the country's annual output or its Gross Domestic Product.



The IMF money will go mainly towards assisting the government to clear urgent debts arising from the hurricane.