An official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated on Monday that the organisation intends to complete a new loan programme for Senegal “as soon as possible” after suspending its $1.8 billion credit line in October due to the discovery of inflated data and fiscal mismanagement.
The IMF withdrew its aid programme in the West African country in September after the government claimed that former president Macky Sall had falsified economic data.
The IMF mission chief in Senegal, Edward Gemayel, urged the government to keep working to restore public finances.
“What we are recommending is to prioritise current spending in the hope of being able to reach a new programme with the IMF as soon as possible, which could enable financing to be released,” Gemayel told the AFP.
Gemayel called for “two major reforms” while assuring investors that Senegal is supposedly a safe country in a volatile region.
The first is “cleaning up public finances, as the debt has risen to a very high level.” However, the government must simultaneously start their new initiative to draw in investment, which will be very beneficial.
“The public sector in Senegal has a fundamental role to play. Investment prospects abound,” he stated.
Last month, the Court of Auditors declared that Senegal’s outstanding debt was greater than what the previous government had declared, amounting to 99.67 per cent of GDP.
Additionally, the Court’s revised 2023 budget deficit is 12.3% as opposed to the previously projected 4.9 per cent.
Following this study, two agencies—Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s—downgraded Senegal’s credit rating.
With a landslide victory, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye assumed office in April 2024, promising to end the country’s economic and political reliance on foreign nations, particularly France, its previous colonial ruler.
Claiming to be a left-wing pan-Africanist, Faye’s victory sparked a great deal of optimism following three years of severe political unrest and economic hardship, during which time rallies were brutally suppressed.
“The government has been extremely open about how it handles public funds ever since the new administration took office. “This is a very important matter,” Gemayel stated.
