Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe Have $2.09 Billion in IMF Arrears

By Sandrine Rastello

Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe have overdue financial obligations to the International Monetary Fund, bringing total arrears to the lender to about $2.09 billion, the lender said today.

Somalia accounted for 18 percent of all unpaid dues and Sudan owed 75 percent of the total as of the end of June, the IMF said in a policy paper posted on its Web site today. Zimbabwe accounted for the remaining 7 percent.

“Overdue financial obligations to the fund continue to impose a significant financial cost on the fund and its membership,” the Washington-based lender said in the paper. The cost for most of the deferred charges “is borne by debtor and creditor members through the burden-sharing mechanism,” it said.

The three countries also have financial obligations with the World Bank and the African Development Bank, according to the IMF. The IMF’s tally of arrears was down about $17.3 million in the 12 months to June 30 from the year-earlier period, the fund said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sandrine Rastello in Washington at srastello@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: September 9, 2009 18:55 EDT