Senegal's $13 billion budget faces parliamentary stalemate amid debt crisis
Senegal's government and parliament are at odds over a revised 2026 budget of roughly $13 billion, with the finance committee having rejected the proposal.
A revised budget for 2026, setting spending at about $13 billion, has been turned down by Senegal's finance committee, leaving the government and parliament in a standoff. The plan trims public investment but raises subsidies for energy, reflecting pressure from an oil price shock linked to the war in Iran. Speaker Ousmane Sonko, who heads the legislature's biggest party, says the budget neglects essential investment and demands greater transparency on state finances.
Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lô indicated that institutional and constitutional tools may be employed to break the impasse if needed. At the close of 2025, Senegal owed roughly $44 billion, matching its gross domestic product, and is negotiating repayment terms with creditors while seeking to revive an IMF program that was suspended after undisclosed debt surfaced in 2024. A new $2.2 billion IMF arrangement agreed in principle last September still awaits final approval.
Why it matters
The budget deadlock threatens Senegal's ability to manage its debt and secure crucial IMF support.
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