$11.3bn in IMF Covid-19 money is being used to service debt, says group

Fund is accused of effectively bailing out private lenders to some of world's poorest nations

The International Monetary Fund has allowed some of the world's poorest countries to use almost 9bn of Covid-19 bailout cash to pay private sector lenders in breach of its own rules, according to a leading anti-poverty campaign group.

Hard-pressed countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia that went into the crisis with high levels of debt have used IMF funds intended for health budgets and food imports on loan interest payments, the Jubilee Debt Campaign said.