Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission has commenced a crucial review of Sierra Leone’s $248.5 million Extended Credit Facility (ECF), the agency confirmed Monday, following months of speculation and government denials that the program had been suspended.
The review, which will cover the first and second assessments of the 38-month program, began with a meeting between IMF mission head Garth Peron Nicholls and Financial Secretary Matthew Dingie.
A successful evaluation is necessary to unlock a second disbursement of funds for the government of Sierra Leone.
The start of the review process appears to counter reports from April 2025, which alleged the IMF had halted all funding to Sierra Leone due to significant budgetary overruns on road projects and infrastructure. At the time, the New Age Newspaper reported the suspension could jeopardize support from other multilateral agencies.
Senior government officials, including Finance Minister Sheku Ahmed Fantamadi Bangura, had strongly denied the rumours. “There is no program suspension,” Minister Bangura stated in April, clarifying that the program was simply undergoing its regular review process, which was being combined for the first and second assessments.
During the meeting on September 29, 2025, Nicholls outlined that the two-week review would address technical and policy issues, including revenue, expenditures, domestic interest rates, and tax reforms. The discussions will also extend to a potential new arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), which could provide approximately $210 million to address climate change and structural reforms.
Financial Secretary Matthew Dingie welcomed the mission and presented the government’s economic progress. He pointed to an inflation rate of around 5.85%, exchange rate stability, and a reduction in domestic interest rates as evidence of the country’s adherence to the program’s objectives.
“The government is prepared to go through the reviews with the necessary data available,” Dingie said, expressing optimism that revenue collection would catch up to targets by the end of the third quarter.
The $248.5 million ECF program, approved in October 2024, aims to restore Sierra Leone’s economic stability by addressing debt sustainability, reducing inflation, and rebuilding reserves. It also focuses on strengthening governance and tackling corruption. The IMF’s initial disbursement was $46.6 million.
This review will specifically consider “corrective actions” agreed upon with the Fund to meet all structural benchmarks by the end of November 2025. The outcome will be closely watched as a signal of the program’s health and Sierra Leone’s continued access to international financial support.
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