Senegal’s National Assembly has rejected revisions to this year’s budget, blocking a bill key to securing a new International Monetary Fund bailout programme.
Lawmakers from Ousmane Sonko’s Pastef group, which holds the majority in the Assembly, opposed the bill on Tuesday, with the vote at 109-20 and three abstentions.
A wire report carried by Voice of Nigeria said the deadlock could derail an IMF board vote on a $2.2 billion, three-year programme aimed at stabilising public finances, which had been expected as early as next month.
The Fund puts Senegal’s debt at 132 per cent of GDP at the end of 2024, after billions of dollars in misreported borrowing by the previous administration came to light.
The rejection prolongs a standoff over the country’s fiscal plans in a tense period, with a recent three-day general strike over the cost of living and a political feud between Sonko and President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. The bill had already been returned to its finance committee a week before Tuesday’s vote.
Sources: Africanews; Voice of Nigeria (wire report)
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