Sierra Leone: IMF Spokesman in Exclusive Chat on Country’s Program

As ECF is still “Current” with No Suspension over $67m

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) through the Office of the IMF Spokesman in Washington D.C. has confirmed that its ongoing program with the Government of Sierra Leone was “current”.

This was made known to Awareness Times Newspaper during a series of exclusive email and phone chats with the IMF Office in Washington D.C. concerning allegations of Sierra Leone being suspended from the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) program with the country.

It can be recalled that in several recent news reports first triggered by a local tabloid journalist, it was alleged that “Sierra Leone is suspended from all IMF programs which has also affected all World Bank activities in the country” with the tabloid journalist adding another claim that it “was made known to the Ministry of Finance by the IMF team that visited the country in April”.

The tabloid initially published the claim on May 27th 2025 (last week Tuesday) during which it was alleged further that “the reason for the suspension” was because: “in November last year, State House authorized the payment of 67 Million Dollars to Alimu Barrie for roads which are not seen”.

The Government, through the Minister of Finance, immediately denounced the report by the local journalist and assured that the relationship with both the IMF and World Bank were on track and not suspended.

However, the $67 Million Dollars claim continued to gather steam with other local journalists picking up the allegation and propagating it with speed.

Awareness Times Newspaper, as one of the country’s leading investigative journalism media, decided to go right to the source itself and seek clarification right from the IMF headquarters in Washington DC.

What we can confirm from the official response of the IMF Spokesman’s Office is that the ECF program with Sierra Leone is still “current” and not suspended as alleged by the tabloid.

The Awareness Times Newspaper first engaged with the IMF in Washington DC for clarification last week Friday May 30th 2025 and we were directed to Madam Tatiana Mossot of the Africa Division Press Office.

Explaining our required clarification, the matter was then escalated to the IMF’s Senior Communication Officer Madam Wafa Amr who treated the matter with the utmost importance by issuing a formal assurance that stated the ECF program with Sierra Leone was still “current”.

The IMF Spokesman’s Office also sent a formal written assurance to Awareness Times Newspaper which we now reproduce verbatim below:

“IMF staff continues to engage with the Sierra Leone authorities on the current Extended Credit Facility program. The ECF aims to support Sierra Leone’s efforts to restore stability by bolstering debt sustainability, addressing fiscal dominance, bringing down inflation and rebuilding reserves; support inclusive growth through reforms and targeted social spending; confront corruption, and strengthen governance, institutions, and the rule of law.”

By Special Report by Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden OOR