By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Senegal’s Prime Minister says his country is ready to present to International Monetary Fund (IMF) a recovery plan that would assist in cleaning up billions of dollars in debts which were not disclosed by the previous administration of Macky Sall.
The IMF, which says it remains engaged with the West African country grappling with a high debt profile is its key financier.
The US-based lender had frozen disbursements on its programme with Senegal last year after an audit under new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye found the previous administration had understated deficits.
The undeclared deficits pushed the country’s end-2023 debt ratio to roughly 100% of GDP, as against the 74% previously reported.
“We’re waiting for the government to share with us basically the final numbers and the key issues that they’ve identified,” Abebe Aemro Selassie, Director of the IMF’s African Department, said on the sidelines of the Africa Debate in London.
“And we hope to move along as quickly as possible. We remain engaged.”
In a speech streamed on social media Tuesday night, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said that he would present a “recovery plan” in the coming days that would “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,” he said.
Selassie said the IMF is also waiting to see the extent of the misreporting, and what avenues were used, in order to determine how the government managed to conceal the larger-than-reported debt from the Fund during an active programme.
