Sonko pledges a “recovery plan,” while the IMF maintains it is still involved with Senegal
Senegal’s prime minister pledged a recovery plan to pay off billions of dollars in debts that the previous government had not revealed, and the IMF indicated it was still involved with the West African nation.
After an audit conducted last year under new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye revealed that the previous administration had understated deficits, the IMF, a major financier for the heavily indebted nation, froze payments on its program with Senegal. This caused the country’s end-2023 debt ratio to drop from 74% to approximately 100% of GDP.
“We’re waiting for the government to share with us basically the final numbers and the key issues that they’ve identified,” IMF’s African Department director Abebe Aemro Selassie stated during the London Africa Debate. Additionally, we want to proceed as swiftly as feasible. We are still involved.
According to Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko’s social media-streamed speech on Tuesday night, he will soon unveil a “recovery plan” that will “tell the Senegalese how to get the country back on its feet, point by point.”
“We will explain what we expect from the people, how the state must reduce its spending, and how to proceed with our partners,” stated the governor.
According to Selassie, the IMF is also awaiting information on the scope of the misreporting and the methods employed to ascertain how the government was able to hide the higher-than-reported debt from the Fund while an active program was on.
