President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye met with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Washington on Tuesday to accelerate the approval of a proposed $2.2 billion Extended Credit Facility (ECF) agreement.
Following a staff-level agreement reached on September 1, 2026, the 36-month program aims to stabilize Senegal’s public finances, bolster debt sustainability, and expand social safety nets between 2026 and 2029. Accompanied by Economy, Finance, and Planning Minister Cheikh Diba, President Faye reaffirmed Dakar’s commitment to structural fiscal reforms, including enhanced domestic tax collection, streamlined public spending, domestic arrears management, and stricter oversight of state-owned enterprises.
The multi-year program is intended to serve as a catalyst for unlocking secondary financing from international partners, including the World Bank and the African Development Bank, though final Executive Board approval remains contingent on Senegal fulfilling corrective measures regarding past revenue misreporting. The diplomatic push in Washington comes amid steady domestic economic expansion driven by oil and gas production, with non-hydrocarbon growth reaching 4.7 percent year-on-year in early 2026 following overall GDP growth of 6.7 percent in 2025. Following his talks in Washington, President Faye traveled to Abu Dhabi to engage UAE officials on further economic and investment cooperation.
TE/lb/abj/APA