--- description: A similar debt cancellation was approved by the IMF for Haiti in 2010. title: U.S. Asks IMF to Write-Off $100 Million of Debt Owed By Ebola-Hit Countries image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdc5c8f2382c873d/6987684ba988ca2c246aaaca/jack-lew.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Economy](/tag/economy/) ## Economy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. Asks IMF to Write-Off Ebola-Hit Countries' Debt  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 12, 2014 1:40 AM CUT  US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew gives a joint press conferece with Egyptian finance minister Hany Dimian (unseen) at the Egyptian Ministry of Finance in Cairo on Oct. 27, 2014. US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew gives a joint press conferece with Egyptian finance minister Hany Dimian (unseen) at the Egyptian Ministry of Finance in Cairo on Oct. 27, 2014.Hassan Ammar—AFP/Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 12, 2014 1:40 AM CUT The Feds proposed Tuesday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cancel roughly $100 million in debt owed by Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, which have been hit hardest in the current Ebola outbreak. Collectively, the three countries owe $372 million to the IMF. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a statement to [_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/11/us-health-ebola-usa-debt-idUSKCN0IV28L20141111?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews "undefined")that eliminating $100 million of that would strengthen the nations’ economies as they struggle to recover from the devastating effects of the virus, which has killed thousands. “The International Monetary Fund has already played a critical role as a first responder, [providing economic support](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2014/new092614a.htm "undefined") to countries hardest hit by Ebola,” Lew wrote. “Today we are asking the IMF to expand that support by providing debt relief for Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.” Treasury officials said the $100 million may be drawn from the IMF’s natural disaster debt relief fund. The fund was first used to cancel Haiti’s outstanding $268 million of debt owed to the IMF after the 2010 Haitian earthquake, the [IMF said](https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2010/pr10299.htm "undefined"). Without significant intervention in the Ebola outbreak, West Africa could lose up to 4% of annual growth and $25.2 billion of GDP by 2015, according to the [World Bank](http://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/ebola-s-economic-damage-africa-how-much-how-long "undefined"). \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/11/us-health-ebola-usa-debt-idUSKCN0IV28L20141111?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3579659/us-imf-ebola-debt/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3579659/us-imf-ebola-debt/"},"headline":"U.S. Asks IMF to Write-Off Ebola-Hit Countries' Debt","datePublished":"2014-11-12T01:40:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:22:34.995Z","description":"A debt cancellation twice as large was approved by the IMF for Haiti in 2010","url":"https://time.com/3579659/us-imf-ebola-debt/","keywords":["Economy","Sierra Leone","ebola","Guinea","Liberia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdc5c8f2382c873d/6987684ba988ca2c246aaaca/jack-lew.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdc5c8f2382c873d/6987684ba988ca2c246aaaca/jack-lew.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew gives a joint press conferece with Egyptian finance minister Hany Dimian (unseen) at the Egyptian Ministry of Finance in Cairo on Oct. 27, 2014.","caption":"US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew gives a joint press conferece with Egyptian finance minister Hany Dimian (unseen) at the Egyptian Ministry of Finance in Cairo on Oct. 27, 2014.","creditText":"Hassan Ammar—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/economy/","name":"Economy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3579659/us-imf-ebola-debt/","name":"U.S. Asks IMF to Write-Off Ebola-Hit Countries' Debt"}}]}] ```