IMF chief optimistic Senegal will reach agreement with creditors

The International Monetary Fund says it's optimistic that Senegal will be able to renegotiate its debts with creditors. Speaking during the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, Kristalina Georgieva expressed confidence in Dakar's ability to secure a deal that would help address its debt crisis. She said successful negotiations would demonstrate that improvements to the G20 debt treatment framework were working. The initiative was launched in November 2020 by the G20 and the Paris Club to help low-income countries with unsustainable debt manage insolvency or liquidity problems. It's long been criticized for the slow pace of negotiations, particularly in the case of Zambia and Ghana. Georgieva said the IMF would support Senegal with a staff-negotiated agreement for a $2.2 billion program, although no timeline has been announced. The comments come as Dakar seeks to emerge from a financial crisis triggered by the discovery in 2024 of undeclared public debt incurred by the previous administration.