- The government of Senegal has rebuffed claims by a country representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the country's "budgetary situation is very difficult."
Alex Segura told the local 'Le Quotidien' daily that Senegal's "budgetary situation was no longer tenable" and that the country would not be able to pay salaries in the coming months.
Segura said the level of Senegal's budget deficit is "becoming more and more worrying" as evidenced by the "unpaid bills amounting to up to US $462 million."
He said as economic adviser, the IMF is frank to say that "the system is no longer holding." Segura feared that Senegal would no longer be able to even pay salaries of the civil servants, more so meet other financial obligations, if it does not readjust itself.
But Senegalese authorities moved quickly to reassure the public that they had not forseen any "problem in paying salaries of its workers."
"We are facing no problems in meeting financial obligations to our workers," Senegal's Budget Minister, Ibrahima Sar, told journalists in the capital Dakar.
An emergency cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaré, was summoned to address claims raised by the IMF representative.
Last month, the IMF mission report said the "Senegalese economy rebounded in 2007". The country's "economic growth is estimated 4¾%, driven by buoyant activity in the services and construction sectors, while the agricultural sector experienced a second year of output decline."
The report also said "rapidly rising international fuel and food prices led to a rise in inflation - which reached 6 percent at year-end - and put pressure on the external and fiscal accounts, especially in the second half of 2007".
Senegalese authorities have been commended for containing the fiscal deficit (payment order basis) within the program ceiling, although they made significant expenditure commitments in 2007 that would need to be paid in 2008.
"This partially reflects that budgetary room in 2007 was increasingly taken up by outlays to help contain price increases of food and petroleum products. The mission supports the authorities’ intention to adjust their spending and settle payment delays in 2008," the mission said, depicting that “Senegal’s economic prospects remain good, although not without risk."
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
front page
| news
| countries
| archive
| currencies
| news alerts login
| about afrol News
| contact
| advertise
| español