By Libby George
LONDON/DAKAR (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund said it remained engaged with Senegal as the West African country’s prime minister promised a recovery plan to clean up billions in debts that were not disclosed by the previous administration.
The IMF, a key financier for the debt-laden country, froze disbursements on its programme with Senegal last year after an audit under new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye found the previous administration had understated deficits, pushing its end-2023 debt ratio to roughly 100% of GDP, versus the previously reported 74%.
“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 mis-reporting, 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.
(Reporting by Libby GeorgeEditing by Alexandra Hudson)
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