SDNY COURTHOUSE,
April 25 – When the
International Monetary Fund
held its biweekly embargoed
press briefing on November 18,
2021 Inner City Press asked
about South Sudan: "It appears
the IMF met with / in South
Sudan this week. Please
confirm, and summarize the
state of discussion between
the IMF and South Sudan."
Here's the
answer, from an IMF
Spokesperson: "“The director
of the IMF African Department,
Mr. Abebe Selassie, and the
Mission Chief for South Sudan,
Mr. Niko Hobdari, visited Juba
earlier this week to discuss
progress on South Sudan’s
economic reforms."
Jump cut to April
25, 2025 when Inner City Press
asked Selassie directly, as
part of the IMF's and World
Bank's Spring Meeting, about
South Sudan - and Senegal:
Matthew Russell
Lee, Inner City Press:: I
wanted to know about Senegal,
in terms of whether funds
would be repaid after the
misreporting of data and if
the IMF has learned anything
from that? And also,
just if you can, the status of
the IMF's programs and even
operations in Sudan and South
Sudan?
MR. SELASSIE: On
Senegal, I was recently in
Dakar for discussions building
on work that our team has been
doing. What we are waiting for
is the government to finalize
the work that's ongoing.
Right now, the audits are
going on and reconciliation
work is going on. On the
extent of domestic and
external debt. We have
been very clear in welcoming
the transparency and really
robust and collegial way in
which the government has been
engaging on the issues that
have arisen in the
misreporting case and we look
forward to the numbers
stabilizing, and engaging in
discussions on the next steps
in terms of bringing the, the
findings to our Executive
Board and next steps in our
engagement with Senegal.
On South Sudan,
it has just been a difficult
period of course for South
Sudan. They have been
hosting hundreds of thousands
of refugees fleeing from the
conflict in the north.
The conflict has also
interrupted, disrupted heavily
their main source of tax
revenue, oil exports through
the pipeline. So, it's
been a really wrenching
period. Over the last
three, four years we have
provided, you know, we have
been trying to provide South
Sudan with emergency financing
and trying to find a way in
which we can engage with a
more structured longer-term
program. We remain
hopeful that we are going to
be able to do that. But
first and foremost, I think we
need to see what can be done
to make sure that the policy
making environment is as
robust and as strong as it is,
and as transparent, so we can
come in, step in and support
South Sudan.
Inner City Press
previously asked the IMF's
Helge Berger, Mission Chief,
about China's so-called Belt
and Road Initiative: "Your
Article IV report cites
China's "overseas lending
projects" amid "rising
geopolitical tensions and
economic and trade frictions."
How does the IMF think that
rising debt levels among
African countries, and
increased skepticism about the
"Belt and Road" will impact or
be addressed going forward?
-Matthew Russell Lee, Inner
City Press. Video here.
(An aside: Inner
City Press has
reported on
the CEFC China
Energy Fund
Committee's
activities in
Chad and
Uganda and in
the UN, on
which the UN is
UNresponsive.)
Other questions
included
China's digital
currency (Inner
City Press also reports
on
crypto-currency
cases in the
U.S. District
Court for the
Southern
District of
New York and
elsewhere).
Berger said
when used
overseas an
issue is that
residents
could start
using another
country's
currency, if
it is easier.
We'll have more
on this.
***
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