Senegal's opposition-dominated parliament rejects key budget bill

Senegal in September announced it had struck a $2.2-billion International Monetary Fund deal aimed at stabilising its economic situation.

The National Assembly's rejection of the 2026 revised budget bill, however, casts uncertainty over the IMF programme, with the Fund's executive board yet to announce final approval which is subject to certain conditions.

Senegal's powerful Pastef party, which holds an overwhelming majority in parliament, has long made clear its rejection of the revised budget.

Following a morning debate, the session's presiding lawmaker, El Malick Ndiaye, announced that "we consider the bill rejected", after 126 lawmakers voted against it, 20 voted for it and three abstained.

Parliament had already sent the bill back to committee a week ago and the Pastef majority in the finance committee has rejected the bill twice.

Pastef's charismatic leader Ousmane Sonko, who is engaged in a dramatic political feud with President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, is speaker of the National Assembly.

He is known for his disdain for debt restructuring, which is required under the IMF loan, and previously called the concept a "disgrace" that would compromise Senegal's sovereignty.

Tuesday's National Assembly debate was cut short upon request from a Pastef lawmaker Amadou Ba, who used parliamentary procedure to trigger a direct vote.

He said lawmakers lacked relevant data and accused the government of having not provided necessary documents.

Another Pastef lawmaker, Ayib Daffe, said that measures in the bill that were aimed at combating the cost of living "do not suit us. (There are) no measures planned to stabilise fuel prices", he said.

- 'Limited' manoeuvring -

The finance ministry said in a statement released Saturday that Pastef's rejection comes "in a context of severely limited room for manoeuvring, difficulties in accessing financial markets and ongoing negotiations" with the IMF.

A parliamentary document shared with AFP Tuesday indicated that the revised budget aimed to account for a sharp rise in hydrocarbon prices driven in part by tensions in the Middle East, a decline in projected tax revenue following a recent government recovery plan and an increase in debt-servicing costs.

Senegal faced public-sector debt estimated at 132 percent of GDP at the end of 2024.

The government indicated Friday that rejection of the budget would notably compromise the supply of electricity, payments owed to businesses and back pay for teachers.

In an interview with AFP last week, however, Senegal Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Mohamed Lo indicated that the government had work-arounds at its disposal, such as executive orders or extending the budget allocations already voted through.

Finance Minister Cheikh Diba warned before the vote that it was "not the time for games".

The budget debate is taking place against the backdrop of the Youth Olympic Games, which began Saturday in and around Dakar and mark the first Olympic event ever to take place in Africa.

The Games have struggled to stoke wild enthusiasm across Senegal, with many people more concerned with the high cost of living, unemployment and economic hardship.