A senior finance ministry from Ethiopia on Thursday revealed that the International Monetary Fund staff mission is in Ethiopia, as the Horn of Africa nation faces a deadline with major creditor countries to secure a loan from the global lender.
IMF spokesperson, Julie Kozack, last month, had said the fund would send a mission to the Horn of Africa nation to discuss its request for a loan programme, but the country’s ministry official did not reveal the reason for the IMF mission’s visit.
In December 2023, the Paris Club of developed creditor nations said Ethiopia’s agreement with its bilateral creditors, excluding China, to suspend debt payments until 2025 could be cancelled if Ethiopia does not secure an IMF loan by March 31, 2024.
In the same month, Ethiopia became the third country in Africa to default in many years after it failed to make a payment on its $1 billion Eurobond.
Sources also said the African country is in talks with IMF to borrow around $3.5 billion loan under a reform programme.
