WASHINGTON/DAKAR, Aug 17 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Monday that its staff would visit the West African country from August 19 to September 1 to continue discussions on policies and reforms that could be supported by a new lending arrangement.
The two-week visit by a full IMF team reflects progress toward a new lending program for Senegal, and will involve more technical discussions, said a source familiar with the discussions.
• On August 3, an IMF spokesperson told Reuters that "IMF staff stand ready to visit as soon as the authorities indicate they are prepared for the next phase of discussions."
• The visit will be the latest to help resolve a debt misreporting issue disclosed in 2024 that led to a freeze in the previous IMF program.
• Last week, Senegal's minister-delegate for budget visited China, the country's largest bilateral creditor, two sources told Reuters.
• Senegal and the IMF have been working on the debt issue since 2024, when the country's then-newly elected leaders disclosed a far larger debt pile than previously reported.
(Reporting by Nilutpal Timsina in Johannesburg, Andrea Shalal in Washington and Portia Crowe in Dakar; Additional reporting by Ruchika Khanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Winning and Edward Tobin)