Sharjah24 – AFP: The IMF on Friday proposed a $50 billion plan to end the Covid-19 pandemic, with a target of vaccinating at least 40 percent of the world's population by the end of 2021.

The modest financial commitment pales in comparison to the massive stimulus rolled out by rich nations, including the latest $1.9 trillion US package approved in March.

"One of the key messages of this proposal is that the amount that's needed is not very big," IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath told reporters.

The plan is dwarfed by the economic benefits the International Monetary Fund calculates would be gained by an early end to the pandemic, amounting to $9 trillion from the faster economic recovery.

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva presented the plan to world leaders at the G20 Global Health Summit in Rome, that aims to have at least 60 percent of the world's population vaccinated by the end of 2022.

But in addition to the global goal, the IMF seeks to address the gap between rich countries and poor in accessing the vaccines, she said. 

"Our proposal sets targets, estimates financing requirements, and lays out pragmatic action," Georgieva said.

"For some time we have been warning of dangerous divergence of economic fortunes. It will only worsen as the gap widens between wealthy countries that have access to vaccines and poor countries that do not."