Dakar, Oct 16 (APS) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) advises Senegal to take bold and rapid measures that can ensure the viability of its public finances and reduce its public debt.
”In the future, it is essential that the authorities [sénégalaises] implement bold and rapid measures to ensure the sustainability of public finances and place public debt on a decreasing trajectory,” recommends Edward Gemayel, an IMF official, to the country’s authorities.
”The 2025 Finance Law represents a crucial opportunity for the government to reaffirm its commitment to essential reforms and to respond to long-standing structural challenges,” said Mr. Gemayel at the end of a mission to Dakar from October 9 to 16.
According to a press release from the financial institution received by the APS on Wednesday October 16, it estimates, at the end of the mission, that “strategic actions to strengthen the mobilization of domestic revenues” could “promote budgetary discipline and strengthen confidence in public governance” in Senegal.
The actions to be taken may consist of rationalizing tax exemptions, ”gradually eliminating energy subsidies and non-essential transfers,” the press release specifies, quoting Edward Gemayel.
Such measures can allow Senegal to lay the foundations for “a more inclusive growth model, driven by the private sector”, according to the IMF.
”Substantial revisions to budget execution data”
The mission led to Dakar by Mr. Gemayel looked at the ”preliminary conclusions” of the report of the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) on Senegalese public finances, reports the press release.
He recalls that this report covers the period 2019-2024 and addresses the country’s budgetary outlook for the rest of this year.
The financial institution’s mission aimed to begin assessing the ”implications of the data revisions resulting from this report for programs supported by the IMF in the past, and the program” of cooperation that the two parties are currently undertaking. to implement.
”IMF staff welcomes the IGF report on public finances and the government’s commitment to solid governance and budgetary transparency,” the statement said, quoting Mr. Gemayel.
”Preliminary conclusions indicate substantial revisions to budget execution data for the 2019-2023 period,” continues the same source.
The IMF adds that ”these revisions are mainly attributable to investments financed by external borrowings and loans taken out from local banks”.
”Senegal continues to face a difficult environment”
”As a result, reports the financial institution, the budget deficit and public debt for this period are now estimated significantly higher than the figures previously reported in the finance and regulation laws”.
This remark from the International Monetary Fund refers to the accusation made by the current leaders of the country against the former President of the Republic, Macky Sall, and some of his collaborators, on the basis of the IGF report.
Mr. Sall and former Finance Ministers Amadou Ba (also former Prime Minister), Mamadou Moustapha Ba and Abdoulaye Daouda Diallo had ”erroneous data” published, concerning the country’s public accounts, the debt and the budget deficit in particular , according to the Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko.
The former head of state rejected this accusation. ”I want to say that these comments are false, totally false. Let’s wait for justice to confirm or deny before accusing people […] I left a country where the indicators were green. The International Monetary Fund confirmed this, a month after I left the country,” said Macky Sall in an interview given to the American press agency Bloomberg.
”The budget deficit is expected to worsen this year”
Pending certification of the IGF’s conclusions by the Court of Auditors [du Sénégal]IMF staff will continue to work closely with the authorities in the coming weeks to assess the macroeconomic impact and define next steps,” the international financial institution’s press release continued.
This assessment will take into account “possible reporting errors in past and current programs supported by the IMF” in Senegal, she adds.
Edward Gemayel also notes that ”Senegal continues to face a difficult environment, with signs of increased tensions in the execution of the budget”.
”The shortfall in terms of revenue […] was confirmed at the end of September [dernier]. At the same time, spending remained high, mainly due to a substantial increase in capital expenditure, as suggested by the preliminary findings of the IGF report, notes Gemayel.
”In the absence of decisive spending measures, the budget deficit is expected to worsen this year, surpassing the previous estimate of 7.5% of GDP,” the statement read.
The IMF specifies that its mission led by Edward Gemayel met the Prime Minister, the Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation, Abdourahmane Sarr, his colleague Cheikh Diba also, in charge of Finance and Budget, as well as the Minister, Secretary General of the Government, Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo.
ESF/OID
