Senegal's parliament on Tuesday threw out proposed revisions to this year's budget. The bill is key to securing a new International Monetary Fund bailout, Africanews reported. Lawmakers from Ousmane Sonko's Pastef party, which holds a majority in the National Assembly, voted it down 109 to 20. Three MPs abstained.
The vote prolongs a standoff over the country's fiscal plans. A week earlier, parliament had sent the bill back to the finance committee. According to Africanews, the deadlock could derail hopes of an IMF board vote on the $2.2 billion, three-year programme as early as next month.
Semafor reported that the government's $13 billion plan cut public investment. The cut was meant to cover extra costs after high oil prices made energy subsidies more expensive. Pastef argued that households and essential public services would carry too much of the burden.
The IMF deal was agreed in principle in September, Semafor said. It would replace a programme frozen after billions of dollars in unreported government debt came to light in 2024. According to Africanews, the IMF says Senegal's debt reached 132 per cent of GDP by the end of 2024. The jump followed the discovery of misreported borrowing by the previous administration.
The budget row is also political. Sonko, the parliament speaker and a former prime minister, is locked in a feud with President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Semafor said the long-running dispute over spending and IMF relations has created instability at the top of Senegalese politics. It warned that this could undermine creditors' confidence and delay IMF approval.
Tensions are high on the streets too. Africanews pointed to high youth unemployment and a cost-of-living crisis that recently led to a three-day general strike.