The resulting trade deficit coupled with meager net capital and financial flows and the external debt servicing costs put tremendous pressure on the reserve position of the central bank. A ray of hope is our workers’ remittances, which were around USD14 billion in FY13 with a 9% increase in the first quarter of this financial year.
As regards the IMF resources, the ECB agrees that the IMF has an essential role to play in the present circumstances to assist countries in need, and the gravity of the global situation justifies the significant increase of the resources available to the IMF. These resources have to be distributed on the basis of appropriate economic policies in the borrowing countries.