{ "title": "Press Briefing Transcript: Julie Kozack, Director, Communications Department, September 10, 2026", "publication": "IMF News, September 10, 2026", "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/09/10/tr-09102026-imf-press-briefing-transcript-september-10-2026", "canonical": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/09/10/tr-09102026-imf-press-briefing-transcript-september-10-2026", "overlayPath": "/en/news/articles/2026/09/10/tr-09102026-imf-press-briefing-transcript-september-10-2026/index.md", "summary": "MS. KOZACK: Hello, everyone. Welcome to this IMF Press Briefing. It's great to see you all, those of you here in person and also those of you joining us online.", "publishDate": "2026-09-10", "sections": [ { "heading": "Announcements and logistical items", "content": "- Managing Director travel:\n - September 18th and 19th: informal meeting of EU Economy Finance Ministers in Dublin (Irish Presidency).\n - Week of September 21st: New York for the 81st UN General Assembly with events and bilateral meetings.\n- Deputy Managing Directors travel:\n - Dan Katz: El Salvador on September 17th.\n - Nigel Clark: India (New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai) this week; Colombia on September 24th and 25th.\n - Kenji Okamura: Tokyo on September 17th and 18th for the 15th IMF Japan High-Level Tax Conference for Asian Countries.\n- Registration reminder: 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meetings, Bangkok, Thailand, October 12th to 18th; register through IMFConnect.org.\n- Press briefing embargo: embargoed until 11 a.m. Eastern Time in the United States." }, { "heading": "Senegal — program, debt treatment, and timing", "content": "- Staff-Level Agreement and program design:\n - IMF Staff and Senegalese authorities reached a Staff-Level Agreement on September 2nd.\n - Proposed arrangement: a new three-year Extended Credit Facility, ECF, arrangement worth about U.S. $2.2 billion.\n - Agreement subject to approval by IMF management and the Executive Board.\n- Program objectives and pillars:\n - Restore the sustainability of Senegal's public finances while protecting vulnerable households.\n - Pillars under the program include:\n - Restoring fiscal sustainability via strengthened domestic resource mobilization and streamlined expenditures.\n - Reinforcing social safety nets through a targeted cash transfer system to protect the most vulnerable.\n - Enhancing fiscal governance: improved debt management, stronger monitoring of domestic arrears, improved oversight of state-owned enterprises.\n - Structural reforms to underpin fiscal strategy, including a medium-term revenue strategy planned for 2027.\n - Reforms to enhance private sector-led growth and promote financial inclusion.\n- Role of debt treatment and the G20 Common Framework:\n - 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.\n - 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.\n - IMF can use its good offices, where both parties agree, to help bring creditors and debtors together.\n- Interaction of program approval and ongoing debt discussions:\n - 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.\n - 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.\n - Timing and duration of creditor negotiations are matters for Senegal and its creditors; IMF does not speculate on how long restructuring will take.\n- Disbursement timing and amounts:\n - After Staff-Level Agreement: internal IMF management review → report shared with Executive Board → Board meeting to consider and approve the program.\n - 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.\n- Oil revenues and fiscal impact:\n - 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.\n - 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." }, { "heading": "Debt sustainability analysis (DSA) and financing gaps", "content": "- IMF role:\n - Prepare the debt sustainability analysis and work with the authorities on the macroeconomic framework and policies underpinning the program.\n - The program accounting will consider IMF financing, donor financing, and any financing from debt restructuring to ensure no remaining financing gaps.\n- DSA vintage:\n - Which precise vintage of the LIC DSF will be used for the DSA was not specified at the briefing; IMF to follow up.\n- Liquidity pressures in low-income and sub-Saharan African countries:\n - IMF notes stabilized or declining debt levels in the group, but mounting liquidity pressures related to debt service and financing availability.\n - Drivers include reductions in ODA and increases in yields in advanced economies.\n - IMF and World Bank three-pillar approach is being applied to help countries address near-term liquidity pressures." }, { "heading": "Global economic outlook and risks", "content": "- Near-term global performance:\n - IMF remains on track for world growth of around 3 percent.\n - 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.\n- Inflation and public debt:\n - Global public debt is nearly 100 percent of GDP, the highest level since World War II; public debt is set to climb further globally.\n - July WEO: global headline inflation for 2026 was revised to 4.7 percent; core inflation projection broadly unchanged at that time.\n - Disinflation from the 2022 Cost of Living crisis has stalled; inflation expectations have risen for the year but remain well anchored longer-term.\n- Bond yields and term premia:\n - 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).\n - Rising benchmark yields increase borrowing costs globally; even with compressed country spreads, higher benchmarks raise overall sovereign funding costs.\n- Policy guidance:\n - IMF advice to central banks: remain focused on their price stability mandate.\n - IMF advice to fiscal authorities: adopt credible medium-term fiscal consolidation plans; consolidation need not be immediate but should be clearly laid out.\n - Priority also on structural reforms to lift growth, remove barriers, and broaden growth to improve fiscal sustainability." }, { "heading": "Selected country updates and data points", "content": "- India:\n - 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.\n - Q2 GDP release incorporated a new index of industrial production and a new producer price index series; IMF welcomes modernization of macroeconomic statistics.\n - IMF to announce updated forecasts at the October World Economic Outlook.\n- Argentina:\n - 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.\n - 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.\n - 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.\n- Angola:\n - Growth held around 3.1 percent; inflation eased to about 10.9 percent.\n - Higher energy prices have strengthened Angola’s external position and market access.\n - IMF supports domestic debt market development and advises prudent debt management and reforms to strengthen macroeconomic stability.\n - IMF post-financing assessment concluded on September 9th; assessment expected to be presented to the Executive Board in November.\n- Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):\n - 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.\n - 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).\n - 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." }, { "heading": "Cross-cutting issues, governance, and institutional direction", "content": "- IMF internal reviews and adaptation:\n - 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).\n - Much of this work will be discussed at the Annual Meetings in Bangkok.\n- Social protection and conditionality:\n - IMF notes longstanding emphasis on protecting vulnerable groups in programs: all programs contain social spending floors and attention to targeted protection.\n - IMF emphasizes domestic resource mobilization, improving revenue-to-GDP ratios, developing domestic capital markets, and making spending more efficient, transparent, and targeted.\n- Geopolitical and policy environment:\n - IMF welcomes high-level engagement between the two largest economies (U.S. and China) and regards such dialogue as positive for global economic stability.\n - 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.\n\nTranscript: Press Briefing Transcript: Julie Kozack, Director, Communications Department, September 10, 2026 — IMF Communications Department\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- PRESS CENTER\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2026/09/10/tr-09102026-imf-press-briefing-transcript-september-10-2026" } ], "bullets": [ "[Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2026/09/10/tr-09102026-imf-press-briefing-transcript-september-10-2026/index.md)", "[Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2026/09/10/tr-09102026-imf-press-briefing-transcript-september-10-2026/index.json)", "[Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2026/09/10/tr-09102026-imf-press-briefing-transcript-september-10-2026/bundle-manifest.json)", "Published: September 10, 2026", "Managing Director travel:", "Deputy Managing Directors travel:", "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.", "Staff-Level Agreement and program design:", "Program objectives and pillars:", "Role of debt treatment and the G20 Common Framework:", "Interaction of program approval and ongoing debt discussions:", "Disbursement timing and amounts:", "Oil revenues and fiscal impact:", "IMF role:", "DSA vintage:", "Liquidity pressures in low-income and sub-Saharan African countries:", "Near-term global performance:", "Inflation and public debt:", "Bond yields and term premia:", "Policy guidance:", "India:", "Argentina:", "Angola:", "Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC):", "IMF internal reviews and adaptation:", "Social protection and conditionality:", "Geopolitical and policy environment:", "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)", "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)" ], "alternates": { "markdown": "/en/news/articles/2026/09/10/tr-09102026-imf-press-briefing-transcript-september-10-2026/index.md", "json": "/en/news/articles/2026/09/10/tr-09102026-imf-press-briefing-transcript-september-10-2026/index.json", "bundleManifest": "/en/news/articles/2026/09/10/tr-09102026-imf-press-briefing-transcript-september-10-2026/bundle-manifest.json" }, "generatedAtUtc": "2026-09-26T04:52:19.114Z" }