DAKAR, Feb 17 - Senegal expects to make its hefty March Eurobond payments on time, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
The West African country has raised enough financing in tax revenues and on the regional market to make the payments, worth nearly half a billion dollars, one of the sources said.
Senegal owes more than $480 million to Eurobond holders next month as it grapples with a debt burden that the International Monetary Fund said hit 132% of gross domestic product at the end of 2024, after the country's current leadership uncovered billions of dollars in borrowing not reported by the previous administration.
The IMF froze a $1.8 billion lending programme over the controversy, forcing Senegal to rely heavily on regional debt auctions to meet its financing needs. The government has for months been in talks with the IMF to establish a new programme.
Tax revenues are expected to be high in the first quarter, with corporate income tax, personal income tax, VAT and dividend tax revenues contributing to covering the Eurobond payments, one of the sources said.
The funding for the payments was still being finalised, the other source said.
Two other people briefed on the matter said they expected the country to pay on time in March.
Senegal has raised 510 billion CFA francs ($922 million) on the regional market so far this year. It said in January that it plans to raise 4.132 trillion CFA francs on the regional market in 2026.
A spokeswoman for Senegal's finance ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Portia Crowe; Additional reporting by Jessica Donati; Editing by Marc Jones and David Holmes)
By Portia Crowe
