Six months after taking office, the government presented the conclusions of its review of the West African country’s public finances in September, with Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko describing the situation as “catastrophic”.

The government audit put the budget deficit at 10.4 percent of GDP, instead of the 5.5 percent announced by the previous administration.

Public debt stood at 76.3 percent of GDP, the audit concluded, instead of the 65.9 percent previously reported.

Sonko accused the former administration of manipulating financial figures communicated to international partners, including the IMF, something previous leaders deny.

The IMF said in mid-October that it had started to assess the impact of the audit on past and ongoing programs under agreements approved in 2023.

Media reports quoted Finance Minister Cheikh Diba as saying that a $1.8 billion aid package had been suspended and a disbursement of around $559 million had been postponed until 2025.

The IMF did not confirm this information when questioned by AFP.

The Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Wednesday that Senegal had raised $300 million on the international market “in response to the need to consolidate financing, due to the postponement of disbursements initially planned by the International Monetary Fund.”

The transaction was underwritten by US bank JP Morgan and carries an interest rate of 6.33 percent, the statement said.

Senegal had already raised $750 million in Eurobonds in June, at an interest rate of 7.75 percent and with a maturity of seven years.

“The success of this fundraising… reflects the renewed confidence of international investors in Senegal’s signature,” indicates the ministry’s press release, specifying that this will be Senegal’s last bond issue on the international market for the year 2024.

The government “plans to begin discussions with the IMF to establish a new program” aimed at stabilization and development, the statement said.

Moody’s downgraded Senegal following the findings of the public finance audit and placed the country under observation.

Standard and Poor’s maintained its rating, but revised its outlook from stable to negative.

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