Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has urged his fellow citizens to make temporary sacrifices in order to revive the national economy, which is facing a large budget deficit and a public debt exceeding 100% of GDP.
In a speech delivered in Dakar, Sonko emphasized that Senegal must “rely on its own resources” to restore financial balance and avoid overdependence on foreign loans.
His government has launched several reforms and austerity measures, including:
- Raising taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, electronic games, and digital money transfers;
- Cutting public spending by suspending the purchase of official vehicles and limiting foreign travel;
- Renegotiating oil and mining contracts to increase revenues;
- Gradually phasing out certain inefficient energy subsidies.
This national reform program, financed 90% by domestic resources, aims to reduce the budget deficit to 3% of GDP by 2027.
Sonko declared that this stage marks “the beginning of a new era of economic sovereignty,” while acknowledging that the coming years “will require two to three years of patience and sacrifice.”
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