(Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund’s executive board of directors is scheduled to meet next week over Ethiopia’s request for a new fund-supported program, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The formal meeting for an extended credit facility is set for July 29, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private and the agenda may change. The scheduling is unusual because the Washington-based lender still hasn’t announced a staff-level agreement for Ethiopia, a step that typically precedes executive board votes on a new program or review of a loan.
A spokesperson for the IMF said that the fund is “working closely with the country’s authorities,” without directly replying to a request for comment about the board meeting or a staff-level agreement.
Ethiopian Finance Minister Ahmed Shide and State Minister of Finance Eyob Tekalign didn’t answer calls to their phones and didn’t respond to requests for comment sent by text message.
Official bilateral creditors granted financing assurances to the Horn of Africa nation to help fast-track approval of a new loan by the IMF board, Bloomberg reported last week. Financing assurances mean that creditors, such as the Paris Club and China, have provided certainty that they will restructure their loans to Ethiopia in a way that’s consistent with the fund’s program.
The board consists of 24 executive directors who represent the IMF’s 190 member countries and fund chief Kristalina Georgieva, though sometimes another management official stands in.
A calendar that’s publicly available on the fund’s website shows board meetings on Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe next week, but not one for Ethiopia. The board often works to finish as much pending business as possible before a summer recess, which this year takes place in the first two weeks of August.
An IMF bailout would lay out the parameters for a restructuring of Ethiopia’s debt using the Group of 20’s Common Framework mechanism, which seeks to coordinate talks between official, commercial and private creditors. The nation would also need to negotiate a deal with overseas private creditors after defaulting on a $1 billion eurobond in December.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told parliament earlier this month that he expects talks with the IMF and the World Bank to unlock more than $10 billion in financing in the coming years, without providing details.
--With assistance from Eric Martin, William Horobin and Fasika Tadesse.
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