Senegal has raised $300 million on the international financial market to cover financing requirements for the 2024 budget after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) postponed disbursements for the West African country, its finance ministry said on Wednesday.

After an audit revealed that the country's debt and budget deficit were much wider than the previous administration had reported, the government decided not to go ahead with Senegal's request for an IMF disbursement.

"This operation is in response to the need to consolidate financing following the postponement of disbursements initially planned by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following the audit," the statement said.

The government intends to enter into discussions with the IMF to establish a new program aligned with the objectives of stabilizing the macroeconomic framework, the finance ministry added.

(Reporting by Diadie Ba; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Ros Russell)