Almost every major global health emergency has exposed the same flaw in the international financial system: When disaster strikes, the institutions built to support affected countries must scramble to raise money for relief funds.

Twelve years ago, when the Ebola virus was ravaging Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the world discovered that the International Monetary Fund — the global economy’s firefighter — had no instrument available to provide debt relief during a public-health catastrophe.

The international community adapted, however, with unusual speed. In November 2014, the US treasury secretary at the time, Jack Lew, called on the IMF to cancel approximately $100 million in debt owed by the three Ebola-stricken countries, and Christine Lagarde, then the managing director of the IMF, proposed to G20 heads of state an additional financing package.

Within three months, the trust fund was transformed. A public-health aspect was added to its mandate, and existing resources were combined with leftover funds from the earlier Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, resulting in the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, a dedicated mechanism that allowed the poorest countries to redirect fiscal resources from debt repayment to protecting lives.

The global fiscal strain of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly exhausted the CCRT’s resources, however, and has left the trust running dry just as another Ebola crisis erupts. As of this week, more than 2,000 deaths have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Beyond the loss of life, the UN Development Programme estimates that the outbreak could push almost 1 million people into poverty.

As of this week, more than 2,000 deaths have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Marina Zucker-Marques

The DRC was among the countries that borrowed heavily from the IMF during the COVID-19 pandemic to support its economy, and now carries more than $3 billion in outstanding debt. While the country has not yet maxed out its capacity to borrow from the IMF, it will probably require additional financing as it confronts a combination of oil-price shocks, slowing economic growth and, now, Ebola. It will need not only liquidity but also relief from existing obligations.

The CCRT exists precisely for this purpose. Yet its available resources total only $120 million, while the DRC alone must pay the IMF almost $300 million in debt service next year. The IMF’s primary instrument for disaster relief does not have sufficient funds to cover even one country facing a disaster, let alone the 30 others that might potentially apply for assistance.

Donor countries have previously shown a willingness to fund debt relief. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the IMF received $800 million in contributions, with the UK pledging $185 million and Japan $100 million within days of the declaration of a pandemic.

But successive rounds of donor pledges, however welcome, only address symptoms, not causes. Every time a major health crisis erupts, the IMF must again ask its shareholders to replenish an instrument specifically designed to respond to recurring shocks, causing political delays in delivering what should be an automatic, rapid stabilizer.

There is a better way. The IMF holds approximately 90.5 million troy ounces of gold, a legacy of the Bretton Woods era when member countries paid their quotas in bullion. This gold sits on the books with a historical price of $45 an ounce. At today’s market price of about $4,000 an ounce, it represents an unrealized profit of approximately $357.9 billion.

In its current state, the IMF’s gold generates no income. If a small fraction were sold — incrementally, to avoid disrupting markets — the proceeds could seed a permanent endowment capable of funding the IMF’s subsidy accounts indefinitely.

The case in favor is straightforward: a gold sale costs taxpayers nothing, creates no loss for the IMF and simply converts an idle, illiquid, non-interest-bearing asset into one that generates a permanent income stream for the world’s most vulnerable countries.

The US government’s recent actions to respond to the disease demonstrate recognition that the virus is a threat everywher.

Marina Zucker-Marques

Critics will argue the IMF’s Articles of Agreement require an 85 percent supermajority for gold sales, which means US congressional support is essential — and thus uncertain. But this is precisely an opportunity for Washington to show leadership.

The US government’s recent actions to respond to the disease demonstrate recognition that the virus is a threat everywhere, and that a stronger DRC response would protect everyone.

The DRC should receive relief from upcoming IMF payments, giving the country the fiscal space it needs to focus its efforts where they matter most: combating the epidemic and expanding the social safety net.

The CCRT was created because US leadership decided that the machinery of international finance should not stand idle in the face of a humanitarian catastrophe. That was correct before, and it should inspire action now.

• Marina Zucker-Marques is senior academic researcher at the Boston University Global Development Policy Center. ©Project Syndicate