IMF says no talks on new Senegal programme until misreporting addressed

DAKAR: The International Monetary Fund said on Monday that talks on a new programme for Senegal could not go ahead until the government addressed the misreporting of key economic data under the previous government.

The IMF suspended its existing $1.8 billion credit facility to Senegal pending a review of state finances, which confirmed last month that the debt and budget deficit were much wider than former President Macky Sall’s administration had reported.

Finance Minister Cheikh Diba said Senegal was hoping for a new IMF programme by June.

In an interview with Reuters in Dakar on Monday, IMF mission chief Edward Gemayel said “everything is possible” but did not commit to that timeline.

“We cannot discuss a new program before we settle on the misreporting,” he said, though he added that once that was done the IMF could move “very, very fast”.

Gemayel said it was also “too early to make that call” when asked if Senegal was heading for a credit event such as a debt restructuring, rescheduling or default.

Senegal’s Court of Auditors last month released a long-awaited review of the country’s finances that confirmed the previous government misreported key economic data including debt and deficit figures.

At the end of 2023, the total outstanding debt represented 99.67% of gross domestic product, the court’s report said. That compared with a previously recorded figure of 74.41%.