The International Monetary Fund has approved a $4.3 billion emergency loan to South Africa as it reels under the coronavirus pandemic.
The country has the world’s fifth largest virus caseload, and confirmed cases are approaching half a million.
The fact that Africa’s most developed country for the first time approached the IMF for a loan is the latest sign of pain, the Associated Press reported.
Unemployment is above 30% and rising, and major state-owned enterprises were already in poor shape.
The IMF said South Africa is seeing a “sharp economic contraction,” though authorities responded swiftly to this latest crisis.
The government weeks ago announced a historic $26 billion economic relief package.
Other African nations are watching how the country of 57 million responds to the pandemic as cases begin to climb in many parts of the continent.
