IMF stalls on Senegal’s debt misreporting waiver

The International Monetary Fund isn’t planning to vote on a crucial debt misreporting waiver for Senegal during its Friday board meeting at which the matter will be discussed, two sources told Reuters. According to TimesLIVE, the country has been expecting the waiver since May to enable its access to fresh IMF cash, but it has yet to complete certain criteria needed for a formal board vote, the sources said. The IMF froze its previous $1.8bn lending programme to Senegal after its then-newly elected leaders uncovered billions in unreported debt – a sum that has ballooned to more than $11bn. Both sources said that discussions on the waiver were going well and it was likely to come this year. But a formal board meeting, which has not yet been scheduled, is needed to sign off on it. A spokesperson for the IMF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Senegal’s Finance Ministry declined to comment.

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