The World Bank has reportedly declined a financial request submitted by the Federal Government of Somalia, in what sources describe as a significant setback for Mogadishu’s efforts to secure fresh international support.

The reported development follows meetings in the United States between a Somali delegation led by Finance Minister Bihi Iman Egeh and senior officials from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The talks were understood to have focused on the economic pressures arising from increasingly challenging global conditions, with the Somali government seeking substantial financial assistance from the two institutions.

According to sources familiar with the discussions, the World Bank and the IMF told Somali officials that while they remain open to providing assistance, any disbursement would be conditional on greater political clarity in Somalia. The institutions reportedly pointed to the fact that the President’s term is nearing its end, while Parliament’s mandate has already expired, arguing that Somalia’s current political uncertainty makes it difficult to approve new funding at this stage.

Sources also said the two institutions stressed that any future financial package would require a governance and political framework jointly accepted by the Federal Government of Somalia and the country’s federal member states.

In a further complication, some regional administrations are also said to have warned the international financial institutions against releasing funds during the current period, citing Somalia’s transitional political environment and the absence of a clear and broadly agreed national political settlement.

Neither the World Bank nor the IMF has publicly commented on the reported position, but the development is likely to add to growing pressure on Somali leaders as political tensions over constitutional order, institutional legitimacy and the country’s transitional trajectory continue to deepen.