Moody’s agency downgrades Senegal’s rating

“Senegal’s rating has just been revised downwards from Ba3 with stable outlook to B1, with monitoring. This drop is consecutive to the upward revision of the budget deficit and the level of debt observed over the period 2019-2023,” he said in a press release.

The rating agency reacted in this way to “the audit of public finances, the preliminary results of which were communicated by the government on September 26, 2024,” adds the ministry.

He recalls that this audit was carried out at the request of the Senegalese authorities, in accordance with “the requirements of the law […] establishing a code of transparency in the management of public finances.

“The Minister of Finance and Budget reaffirms the government’s firm desire to quickly implement ambitious reforms to significantly reduce the deficit from 2025 and consolidate this reduction in the short term, in accordance with the commitments made within the UEMOA and of ECOWAS,” reads the press release.

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The ministry assures that “a clear trajectory will be defined to lower the debt rate”.

He affirms that “Senegal will continue its collaboration with its international partners, notably the World Bank and the IMF, but also ECOWAS, UEMOA, BCEAO, the African Development Bank, BOAD and all its regional partners, to improve debt management, strengthening financial governance and ensuring increased transparency in budgetary processes.

“The government remains open to dialogue with its partners, throughout the process, in order to guarantee a stable and prosperous economic future,” continues the same source.