Senegal claims that the IMF is worried about the “very large amount” of liquidity requirements
Senegal’s finance minister stated on Friday that the IMF is worried about the country’s liquidity need.
Senegal is negotiating a new credit program with the Fund while dealing with the consequences of billions of dollars’ worth of debts that the previous government failed to disclose.
According to Finance Minister Cheikh Diba, Senegal requires a “very large amount” of funding, with an average of 6,000 billion CFA francs ($10.60 billion) per year.
“And the IMF believes we cannot guarantee this over the debt sustainability horizon,” said Diba. “We, however, believe it is possible.”
A request for comment via email was not immediately answered by the IMF.
Additionally, according to Diba, the government is attempting to “review all problematic sources and propose refinancing instead.”
“When we replace this debt with more acceptable terms and longer maturities, we create fiscal space,” he stated.
Through “active debt management,” the government anticipated freeing up more over 500 billion CFA francs in budgetary headroom for 2025, according to Diba.
Following the remarks, Senegal’s government bonds experienced a decline, with the near-term maturities losing almost 2 cents. Bonds priced in euros sold for 73.15 cents, while the 2031 note denominated in dollars sold for 64.88 cents.
