The International Monetary Fund said Senegal must implement strict budget rules and corrective measures on misreported debt to secure board approval for a $2.2 billion loan, according to IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack. The conditions follow Senegal’s National Assembly rejecting the revised 2026 budget on Nov. 3.
The IMF’s three conditions, outlined by Kozack on Nov. 12, include a completed budget framework, corrective measures regarding misreported debt, and financing assurances from Senegal’s partners. Kozack said Senegal must put its agreed policies into practice before the fund’s executive board can approve the programme, according to a transcript of the briefing. No board date has been set, and Kozack gave no timetable for approval, the records show.
The arrangement is a 36-month Extended Credit Facility worth about $2.2 billion, equivalent to SDR 1,537.1 million, or 475% of Senegal’s quota, covering 2026 to 2029.
IMF staff and Senegal reached a staff-level agreement on Sept. 1, but the executive board has not approved it. The IMF’s Sept. 1 statement said the deal requires board approval and decisive corrective action on the misreporting case. Senegal is seeking the programme even with oil output lifting economic growth to 6.7% in 2025, according to the IMF.
The loan’s path was complicated by the National Assembly’s action on Nov. 3, when lawmakers rejected the revised 2026 budget through a preliminary motion that ended the bill without debate on its merits. Legislators questioned the sincerity of the budget’s figures. The government’s bill cut about 555 billion CFA francs, or roughly $940 million at CFA 592 per dollar, from public investment spending. It also lowered the revenue forecast by CFA 340.1 billion, about $575 million, and raised the projected 2026 deficit from 5.4% to 7.6% of GDP, according to the rejected bill’s text.
On Oct. 29, Kozack said a budget conforming to agreed parameters is essential for the programme to continue, according to the briefing records. The political split is between President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s government and the Assembly, whose speaker, Ousmane Sonko, leads the Pastef party, which holds the majority. The IMF has stated it is not a party to talks between the government and Senegal’s parliament, respecting each member’s sovereignty and legal framework, Kozack said.
The misreported debt issue stems from earlier debt figures Senegal provided to the IMF that were incorrect. The IMF requires completion of corrective measures over the hidden-debt misreporting, but the exact scale of the hidden debt remains disputed, according to officials. The financing assurances condition requires Senegal to secure commitments from its partners, Kozack said, adding that the board needs those assurances before it can consider the request.
For investors in Senegal’s debt, the briefing indicates a sequence of hurdles rather than a timeline for disbursement. Kozack’s account shows all three conditions remain to be completed, meaning a first IMF payment is not imminent, according to the Rio Times report. No official has said whether the president will attempt to adopt a budget without parliament or whether the government will resubmit a revised bill to the Assembly, the report said.
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