IMF chief says acted 'as soon as conditions allowed' on Senegal debt

Washington: The IMF acted as soon as it could after discovering that Senegal had misreported more than $11 billion in debt, the head of the internatio...

Washington: The IMF acted as soon as it could after discovering that Senegal had misreported more than $11 billion in debt, the head of the international financial institution said Thursday.

After taking power last year, Senegal's new government said the previous administration of Macky Sall had significantly under-represented its levels of debt, sparking an International Monetary Fund investigation which concluded the authorities had wildly misrepresented its 2023 budget deficit.

The west African nation is now struggling to right its finances as it grapples with public debt amounting to about 119 percent of its GDP and a budget deficit of 14 percent.

The Senegalese authorities are now in talks with the IMF about a new program to replace a $1.8 billion credit line suspended by the institution when the debt underreporting came to light.

"Assessing why this happened, what is the magnitude, and what to do about it took some time," IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters at the Fund's headquarters in Washington on Thursday. "But now we have clarity."