IMF says could roll out storm aid for Mozambique 'next week'

The International Monetary Fund will consider a $130 million accelerated aid package for storm-hit Mozambique as soon as next week, a senior IMF official said Friday.

"We have moved very rapidly to support Mozambique through a Rapid Credit Facility," Abebe Selassie, head of the fund's Africa department, told reporters during the IMF spring meetings.

"We expect the executive board to consider this request as soon as next week, within a month of the cyclone hitting Mozambique."

Cyclone Idai, which cut a path of destruction through Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe last month, would cost the three countries an estimated $2 billion, according to the World Bank.

In Mozambique alone, more than 600 people died among the 1.5 million affected while about 344 died in Zimbabwe. In Malawi, heavy rains during an earlier phases of the storm also left 59 dead.

Selassie said the IMF also will mobilize assistance for Zimbabwe and Malawi in the wake of the storm.

The IMF's Rapid Credit Facilities provides urgent financial aid to poor countries with limited conditions.