Senegal’s dollar bonds slid on Friday, Tradeweb data showed, a day after the International Monetary Fund said resolving the country’s debt-data misreporting issue was a “time-intensive process”.
Senegal’s bond maturing in 2033 fell 1.35 cents and was bid at 67.72 cents on the dollar, while the longer-dated 2048 bond lost 1.12 cents to bid at 59.97 on the dollar.
Senegal is working with the IMF to resolve matters after the current government said debt and deficit levels were higher than those reported by the previous administration, leading the IMF to freeze Senegal’s $1.8 billion programme.
“The market is very jittery on this credit,” said Leo Morawiecki, an investment specialist with asset manager Aberdeen in London. “We have been promised final audit numbers, a waiver, an IMF programme, and dates and timelines keep getting pushed back.”
Markets had expected a resolution – or at least a clear path towards one – by the middle of the year, but the IMF did not give a timeline on Thursday.
“We do continue to work with the authorities to address the complex misreporting case that is ongoing, and addressing this complex case does require a rigorous and time-intensive process,” IMF communications direction Julie Kozack told a press conference on Thursday.