Senegal's finance committee to review revised budget key to IMF deal

The finance committee of Senegal’s National Assembly is to review a revised budget that is crucial to sealing a new programme with the International Monetary Fund.

Its finance minister., Cheikh Diba, on Tuesday asked them to take another look at the draft which was rejected by the Pastef party, which holds an overwhelming majority in parliament.

Any delay could imperil the country’s bid to secure an IMF bailout.

"Beyond budgetary concerns, the current situation also calls on us to show responsibility, discernment and a sense of perspective in our institutional relations,” said Diba in making the request.

Diba it was in a bid to "seek a constructive outcome" and "avoid differences leading to a shutdown" that would harm the country.

Pastef's leader Ousmane Sonko, who is also National Assembly speaker, agreed to the request saying he would work to set dates for committee proceedings and the next plenary ​session.

He told members of the National Assembly that it would “cast its vote with complete calm and complete clarity”.

Senegal has been grappling with a debt ​burden that the IMF says had reached 132 per cent of gross domestic product ‌by ⁠the end of 2024.

This was the result of the discovery of billions of dollars in misreported borrowing by the previous administration.

On Monday, Senegal's prime minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Mohamed urged the opposition not to paralyse the country by blocking the revised budget.

"You cannot bring a country to a standstill," he said, urging Pastef to return to "dialogue" at a time of crisis for the country's economy.

Dakar is hoping to strike a new 36-month, $2.2 billion debt programme with the IMF aimed at stabilising the country's public finances.

The budget row comes at a time of heightened social tension, with youth unemployment high and a cost-of-living crisis prompting a three-day general strike last week.

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