Senegal\u2019s Public Debt Director Alioune Diouf said the country\u2019s debt is now \u201cfully transparent\u201d and aligned with International Monetary Fund (IMF) figures, while rejecting \u200csuggestions of arrears outside a grace period.<\/p>\n
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The comments follow the discovery of previously unreported liabilities and fresh claims for lack of transparency in swap contracts. The IMF halted a $1.8 billion program in 2024 after the initial misreporting surfaced, putting Senegal\u2019s debt management under closer scrutiny.<\/p>\n
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Diouf said the government and IMF were now using identical data after audits covering 2019\u20132024.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe are aligned on all the figures. There is no difference,\u201d he said on the sidelines of a West Africa investment event in Manhattan, referring to both debt stock and fiscal balances.<\/p>\n
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Yet the debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) and deficit figures \u2060the government published in a recent quarterly update do not align with the IMF’s World Economic Outlook.<\/p>\n
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He pointed to expanded disclosure through quarterly budget reports, a debt statistical bulletin and reporting under IMF data standards, adding: \u201cToday there is total transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n
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At the same time, Diouf said financing operations carried out in 2025, including those involving derivatives-linked financing, were executed through the regional domestic market and are reflected only in aggregate issuance data.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThese are operations carried out through auction you can only see them through the overall amounts raised,\u201d he said, adding the transactions were not separately identifiable.<\/p>\n
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The explanation comes as Senegal faces scrutiny over its use of total return swap-type structures, which officials have defended as a cheaper alternative to external borrowing. Diouf maintained the instruments were embedded in domestic issuance and had been communicated to partners, but did not point to line-by-line disclosure.<\/p>\n
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On risk, he said the swaps are tied to \u200cdomestic government \u2060securities and structured so that market movements would not trigger margin calls.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe evolution of yields cannot lead to a margin call, the risk is almost nonexistent,\u201d he said, arguing that authorities effectively control rate dynamics in the domestic market.<\/p>\n
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Diouf also said Senegal had no delayed payments to creditors past the grace period.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe’re working to avoid them, we’re working to pay on time,” he said, when asked about arrears within the grace period.<\/p>\n
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Reuters<\/em> reported last month that Senegal is falling behind on payments to Paris Club \u2060lenders including France, Britain, Italy and Spain. The delays are within grace periods, which are typically 90 days, and are not uncommon.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Diouf described bank loans later converted into government securities known as APEs as previously unrecorded liabilities identified through an audit, rather than missed payments.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt is not arrears, it is debt that was not integrated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The \u2060conversion into tradable instruments, he said, was part of an \u201cactive debt management\u201d strategy allowing the state to regularize obligations while giving banks assets eligible for central bank refinancing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Talks with the IMF are ongoing, with data now reconciled and a program outline under discussion, though Diouf did not specify what remains \u2060to be resolved.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe are working towards concluding the program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The IMF has said further work is needed to assess Senegal\u2019s debt outlook, while officials have acknowledged differences remain in discussions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With external market access constrained since the program was halted, Senegal has relied more heavily on regional markets and alternative financing structures, including swaps and retail-style instruments.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n –Reuters–<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":29974,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-32676","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Senegal\u2019s Public Debt Director Alioune Diouf said the country\u2019s debt is now \u201cfully transparent\u201d","published_date":"2026-04-22 07:21:55","news_description":"Senegal\u2019s Public Debt Director Alioune Diouf said the country\u2019s debt is now \u201cfully transparent\u201d","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32677,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32676\/revisions\/32677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=32676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}