IMF unblocks cash as desperate West Africa awaits Ebola aid

The International Monetary Fund fast-tracked $130 million in aid Friday to fight the Ebola epidemic after the governments of the worst-hit countries in west Africa said they were desperately counting on promises of global aid to be backed up with cash. The IMF’s executive board said it wanted to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone respond to the rapidly spreading outbreak that has killed some 3,000 people since December. U.S. President Barack Obama said West Africa had been “overwhelmed” by the crisis. “Public health systems are near collapse,” Obama told a global health summit at the White House. He warned that the disease was causing economic growth to slow in the region and putting huge strain on governments. The president called on the world to do more to prevent such epidemics. “We have got to make sure we never see a tragedy on this scale again,” said Obama, who last week led calls at...