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Mali on Monday missed international debt payments of $80m (£60m) due to the sanctions imposed on it in January by the West African regional bloc, the West African debt agency Umoa-Titres said on Tuesday.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the UEMOA monetary union ordered the sanctions after Mali’s military rulers went back on plans to hold elections and said they would stay in power for five years.
The missed payments bring the total payments that Mali has defaulted on because of sanctions since January to about $180 million.
The Malian authorities have said the financial restrictions, border closures and the cutting of foreign aid were inhumane and will push people into deeper poverty. They filed a lawsuit against UEMOA to try to get them lifted.
Mali has more than a dozen treasury bills and bonds maturing this year, one of them on March 9.
