Tehran, Apr 10 (IANS): The governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) on Thursday asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to process Iran's request for an emergency anti-coronavirus loan.

"We expect the IMF to immediately respond to the request of Iran which itself is a founding member of the Fund," Abdolnaser Hemmati, the CBI chief, wrote on his Instagram page, reported Xinhua news agency.

Hemmati has said that the IMF's response will be a litmus test for claims about relief aid for containing the disease.

According to Press TV, Hemmati sent a letter to IMF president on Wednesday to emphasize Iran's need for the loan to finance a current fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

On March 12, it was announced here that the CBI had asked the IMF for a 5-billion-dollar loan to combat the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.

However, reports said that the United States had blocked Iran's request for the emergency loan.

On Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the recent rejection of Iran's application for the loan from the IMF amid the novel coronavirus fight is "unacceptable" and "unfair."