The International Monetary Fund has ordered Tajikistan to repay $47.4m in loans for breaching reporting rules. The sanction is likely to have marked repercussions on the financial reputation of central Asia’s poorest country.

The IMF executive board said that in taking its decision, it “carefully weighed Tajikistan’s very difficult economic circumstances, in particular its balance of payments position as well as the severe humanitarian crisis prevailing in the country, against serious instances of misreporting by the Tajik authorities”.