Tax & Spend
Senegal Aims to Cut Budget Deficit to Lowest in a Decade by 2027
- Prime Minister Sonko sees debt below 70% of GDP by 2029
- Country plans ‘patriot’ bonds to finance government projects
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Senegal plans to slash its budget deficit to 3% of gross domestic product by 2027 as it begins cutting government expenditure and finds ways to boost tax collections from next year, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said.
The nation’s finance ministry projected a budget gap of more than 11% of GDP this year while the last time the shortfall was at 3% was in 2017. A state audit this year showed the average fiscal gap for 2019-2023 was almost double the 5.5% that was reported under former President Macky Sall, prompting the International Monetary Fund to freeze $1.8 billion of loans to the West African nation.