Press Briefing Transcript: Julie Kozack, Director, Communications Department, September 10, 2026
IMF News, September 10, 2026
Source details
- Canonical URL
- Press Briefing Transcript: Julie Kozack, Director, Communications Department, September 10, 2026
Other formats
Bibliographic details
- Published: September 10, 2026
Announcements and logistical items
- Managing Director travel:
- September 18th and 19th: informal meeting of EU Economy Finance Ministers in Dublin (Irish Presidency).
- Week of September 21st: New York for the 81st UN General Assembly with events and bilateral meetings.
- Deputy Managing Directors travel:
- Dan Katz: El Salvador on September 17th.
- Nigel Clark: India (New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai) this week; Colombia on September 24th and 25th.
- Kenji Okamura: Tokyo on September 17th and 18th for the 15th IMF Japan High-Level Tax Conference for Asian Countries.
- Registration reminder: 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meetings, Bangkok, Thailand, October 12th to 18th; register through IMFConnect.org.
- Press briefing embargo: embargoed until 11 a.m. Eastern Time in the United States.
Senegal — program, debt treatment, and timing
- Staff-Level Agreement and program design:
- IMF Staff and Senegalese authorities reached a Staff-Level Agreement on September 2nd.
- Proposed arrangement: a new three-year Extended Credit Facility, ECF, arrangement worth about U.S. $2.2 billion.
- Agreement subject to approval by IMF management and the Executive Board.
- Program objectives and pillars:
- Restore the sustainability of Senegal's public finances while protecting vulnerable households.
- Pillars under the program include:
- Restoring fiscal sustainability via strengthened domestic resource mobilization and streamlined expenditures.
- Reinforcing social safety nets through a targeted cash transfer system to protect the most vulnerable.
- Enhancing fiscal governance: improved debt management, stronger monitoring of domestic arrears, improved oversight of state-owned enterprises.
- Structural reforms to underpin fiscal strategy, including a medium-term revenue strategy planned for 2027.
- Reforms to enhance private sector-led growth and promote financial inclusion.
- Role of debt treatment and the G20 Common Framework:
- Authorities announced intention to undertake a debt treatment of Senegal's external debt; IMF welcomes use of the G20 Common Framework and stands ready to support the process.
- The Common Framework is presented as a coordination mechanism for creditors; it does not imply a specific type of debt treatment but aims to make restructuring more orderly and timely.
- IMF can use its good offices, where both parties agree, to help bring creditors and debtors together.
- Interaction of program approval and ongoing debt discussions:
- IMF policy allows the Staff-Level Agreement and program to be brought to the Executive Board for consideration while Senegal continues discussions with creditors on debt restructuring.
- If the Executive Board approves the program, IMF financing would be made available to help meet immediate needs (public services and priority spending) even as debt discussions continue.
- Timing and duration of creditor negotiations are matters for Senegal and its creditors; IMF does not speculate on how long restructuring will take.
- Disbursement timing and amounts:
- After Staff-Level Agreement: internal IMF management review → report shared with Executive Board → Board meeting to consider and approve the program.
- If approved, Senegal would receive a first disbursement that is a portion of the proposed U.S. $2.2 billion; no Board date available at the time of the briefing.
- Oil revenues and fiscal impact:
- Higher global oil prices are currently adding additional pressure to Senegal's public finances because Senegal has untargeted energy subsidies; as oil prices rise, subsidy-related fiscal outlays rise.
- Program reforms aim to support transparent management of public resources, create space for priority spending, implement targeted social protection, and improve the business environment to support diversification.
Debt sustainability analysis (DSA) and financing gaps
- IMF role:
- Prepare the debt sustainability analysis and work with the authorities on the macroeconomic framework and policies underpinning the program.
- The program accounting will consider IMF financing, donor financing, and any financing from debt restructuring to ensure no remaining financing gaps.
- DSA vintage:
- Which precise vintage of the LIC DSF will be used for the DSA was not specified at the briefing; IMF to follow up.
- Liquidity pressures in low-income and sub-Saharan African countries:
- IMF notes stabilized or declining debt levels in the group, but mounting liquidity pressures related to debt service and financing availability.
- Drivers include reductions in ODA and increases in yields in advanced economies.
- IMF and World Bank three-pillar approach is being applied to help countries address near-term liquidity pressures.
Global economic outlook and risks
- Near-term global performance:
- IMF remains on track for world growth of around 3 percent.
- Uncertainty remains high due to opposing forces: a negative supply shock from elevated energy and commodity prices and a positive demand shock from an AI-led technology cycle.
- Inflation and public debt:
- Global public debt is nearly 100 percent of GDP, the highest level since World War II; public debt is set to climb further globally.
- July WEO: global headline inflation for 2026 was revised to 4.7 percent; core inflation projection broadly unchanged at that time.
- Disinflation from the 2022 Cost of Living crisis has stalled; inflation expectations have risen for the year but remain well anchored longer-term.
- Bond yields and term premia:
- 10-year sovereign bond yields for key advanced economies are at their highest levels for quite some time; a U.S. 10-year tenor hit its highest level since 2023 (noted in briefing).
- Rising benchmark yields increase borrowing costs globally; even with compressed country spreads, higher benchmarks raise overall sovereign funding costs.
- Policy guidance:
- IMF advice to central banks: remain focused on their price stability mandate.
- IMF advice to fiscal authorities: adopt credible medium-term fiscal consolidation plans; consolidation need not be immediate but should be clearly laid out.
- Priority also on structural reforms to lift growth, remove barriers, and broaden growth to improve fiscal sustainability.
Selected country updates and data points
- India:
- Real GDP in Q2 grew by 7.8 percent; outturn above IMF Staff expectations and consensus, driven by stronger-than-expected services activity and exports.
- Q2 GDP release incorporated a new index of industrial production and a new producer price index series; IMF welcomes modernization of macroeconomic statistics.
- IMF to announce updated forecasts at the October World Economic Outlook.
- Argentina:
- Notable progress: two consecutive years of primary fiscal surpluses for the first time in 15 years; inflation around 30 percent; growth resumed; poverty reduced; reserves being rebuilt.
- Household debt is about 8 percent of GDP (relatively low); banks are well capitalized and liquid; bank provisions cover more than 85 percent of non-performing loans.
- Policy priorities: rebuild reserve buffers, reduce financing risks, preserve fiscal anchor, strengthen policy frameworks, broaden growth beyond energy, mining, and agriculture via infrastructure tendering and market/debt development.
- Angola:
- Growth held around 3.1 percent; inflation eased to about 10.9 percent.
- Higher energy prices have strengthened Angola’s external position and market access.
- IMF supports domestic debt market development and advises prudent debt management and reforms to strengthen macroeconomic stability.
- IMF post-financing assessment concluded on September 9th; assessment expected to be presented to the Executive Board in November.
- Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):
- IMF concluded Article IV in late June and completed the Third Review under the ECF and the Second Review under the RSF, unlocking new disbursements totaling about U.S. $350 million.
- Growth projections in Staff Reports (published in late June): 5.6 percent in 2026 and 5.5 percent in 2027 (to be updated in October WEO).
- Public debt: about 20 percent of GDP; external debt: about 13 percent of GDP. Debt low, but DRC has low debt-carrying capacity; IMF continues to monitor fiscal risks, including those tied to state-owned enterprises and mining-related obligations.
Cross-cutting issues, governance, and institutional direction
- IMF internal reviews and adaptation:
- IMF is completing five major policy reviews to ensure lending and surveillance remain fit for purpose in a world of high uncertainty and global transformations (reviews include conditionality, surveillance, and LIC DSA among others).
- Much of this work will be discussed at the Annual Meetings in Bangkok.
- Social protection and conditionality:
- IMF notes longstanding emphasis on protecting vulnerable groups in programs: all programs contain social spending floors and attention to targeted protection.
- IMF emphasizes domestic resource mobilization, improving revenue-to-GDP ratios, developing domestic capital markets, and making spending more efficient, transparent, and targeted.
- Geopolitical and policy environment:
- IMF welcomes high-level engagement between the two largest economies (U.S. and China) and regards such dialogue as positive for global economic stability.
- IMF monitoring of developments related to the Middle East war, sanctions, and disruptions to energy shipments (e.g., ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz) is ongoing; these factors add to energy-price-related risks.
Transcript: Press Briefing Transcript: Julie Kozack, Director, Communications Department, September 10, 2026 — IMF Communications Department