G8 & IMF Pledge $73 Billion For Arab Spring

The Group of 8 and its representing finance ministers have increased its pledge of $20 billion to $38 billion in order to assist the countries of Egypt and Tunisia now joined by Jordan and Morocco at a meeting in the French city of Marseilles attended by numerous representatives from organizations and countries such as the International Monetary Fund, the Arab League, the World Bank, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Qatar, Turkey, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and the European Union.

The G8 stated that the ultimate goal of the pledged money, in the form of the “Deavuille Partnership”, is to create economic and political prosperity to the target regions in the wake of “Arab Spring”/”Jasmine Revolution” which has brought on political turmoil as unhappy protesters step up popular demonstrations against governments in the Middle East and North Africa.

The pledged money, according to the G8, will also assist countries such as Egypt and Tunisia into transitioning into a more democratic form.

The pledge of such a massive amount of money seemed sudden to some especially after considering that the meeting took place a day after representatives from governments and banks struggled to work on debts and the overall financial crisis in their own respective regions such as Greece.

At the meeting, representatives from Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt gave presentations on each of their plans for the nations in the future regarding the economies.

The International Monetary Fund, after recognizing Libya’s National Transitional Council, also decided to pledge $35 billion in addition to the G8?s $38 billion making the package a total of $73 billion.

The money will be distributed through entities such as the European Investment Bank, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and the governments themselves.