Australia, France And Saudi Arabia Agree To Strengthen The FIF G20 Fund For Handling A Pandemic

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: Capture the screen of the Ministry of Finance's Youtube)

DENPASAR Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani revealed that the structure of the Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) for the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPR) will be stronger by joining three new countries. According to the Minister of Finance, a number of countries are Australia, France, and Saudi Arabia.

"They will announce the number (selection commitment) at the G20 leader meeting," he said on Saturday night, November 12.

The Minister of Finance added that through the formation of this disbursement fund, the G20 will continue to focus on improving the international health architecture with WHO as technical leader and the World Bank as the trustee of this trustee.

"All G20 countries ask that these fund management pay more attention to low-income developing countries and developing countries that continue to strive to increase their capacity to deal with the pandemic," he said.

The Minister of Finance added that the evidence of the presence of FIF funds shows a strong commitment from Group of 20 countries.

"We will continue our work between the ministers of health and the minister of finance," he stressed.

For information, the development of PPR-FIF is widespread outside the G20 forum which is reflected in the desire to participate from non-G20 countries and three philanthropic organizations. The official contribution recorded so far amounts to around US$1.4 billion.

Meanwhile, the government's support in this joint funding scheme is USD 50 million.