Jihad Azour, director of the International Monetary Fund, Middle East and Central Asia Department, says Sudan’s Transitional Military Council has not approached the IMF about the country’s debt

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues to provide Sudan with technical assistance and policy support, but it cannot offer additional financing because of the country’s arrears, a senior IMF official said.

Sudan’s Transitional Military Council is in talks with opposition groups on the formation of a joint body to lead a transition from 30 years of autocratic rule by Omar al-Bashir.

It ousted and arrested al-Bashir after months of protests.

Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department, told Reuters on Monday that Sudan’s Transitional Military Council had not approached the IMF about the country’s debt.

“We have been engaged with Sudan, we provide them (Sudan authorities) with technical assistance and policy support,” Azour said.

But he added: “We cannot provide them with financing because they are still incurring arrears, and until they address this arrear issue, in our bylaws, we cannot provide them with additional lending.”

The IMF in late 2017 estimated Sudan’s arrears to the fund to be $1.3 billion this year, out of a total external debt estimated at $59 billion.

The United States imposed a range of sanctions on Sudan, first over Khartoum’s perceived support for militants, later its violent suppression of rebels in Darfur.

An overhaul of Sudan’s debt is “too premature”, said Azour, “because this would require the removal of the sanctions. Technically it is not something that you can achieve now.”

– Apr. 29, 2019 @ 18:59 GMT |