The IMF, which agreed with Nigeria to end formal ties earlier this year, has declined to confirm a claim by Olusegun Obasanjo, the country’s president, that the relationship between the two parties would resume in October.

The IMF issued a carefully phrased statement late on Monday in response to Mr. Obasanjo’s claim in a speech in Washington last Thursday that the suspension of the IMF programme in Nigeria had been “grossly misunderstood”.

The IMF statement avoided directly contradicting Mr. Obasanjo but failed to provide backing for the president’s claim that the body’s formal engagement with Nigeria would restart on October 1.

“We are continuing to engage with Nigeria and the government and we are providing input and feedback into their home-grown programme,” said Gary Moser, IMF representative in Nigeria. “We have continued to do that since late last year.”

Michael Peel, Financial Times, June 26, 2002