IMF to give millions to Ebola-hit nations

Monrovia - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is preparing $150m in additional support to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the countries at the heart of the Ebola epidemic, the IMF representative in Liberia told Reuters.

"In Guinea and Sierra Leone, existing Fund financial programs are being augmented to provide more resources to these countries. In Liberia, a one-off disbursement under the Fund's Rapid Credit Facility is being considered," Charles Amo-Yartey told Reuters in an email.

The money could be made available in the first quarter of this year and would add to $130m disbursed by the IMF last year, he said.

The epidemic has damaged the economies of the three West African states, two of which, Liberia and Sierra Leone, are recovering from civil wars.

The three are at the centre of the Ebola outbreak that has killed 8 235 people out of 20 747 infected over the past year, the World Health Organisation said.

Sierra Leone, the country worst hit, reported nearly 250 new confirmed cases in the past week, but the spread of the virus there may be slowing. The rate of transmission has ebbed in Liberia and Guinea.