ITFC launches $850m coronavirus emergency financing

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corp (ITFC) is providing $850 million in emergency financing to governments to help cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, its chief executive Hani Salem Sonbol said.

Funds from the Rapid Response Initiative will be used to meet needy OIC countries' immediate healthcare requirements plus critical supplies of energy and food. About $300 million would be immediately available, and the rest deployed to help with the economic recovery once the epidemic was over. 

The financing will be "seed money" and is expected to scale up, Salem Sonbol said.