WASHINGTON—The International Monetary Fund sent $350 million in cash to the Burma (also known as Myanmar) government two weeks ago, part of a no-strings-attached emergency aid package to help the country battle the coronavirus pandemic.
Days later, military leaders seized power and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected officials, in what the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday constituted a coup. There appears to be little the IMF can do to claw back the funds, part of rapid-disbursing COVID-19 financing programs with almost no conditions and approved by the IMF board on Jan. 13, sources familiar with the payments and international finance experts said.
