La dette du Sénégal est « tout simplement impayable », soutient l’économiste Ndongo Samba Sylla
A scandal is rocking Senegal. A hidden debt of $7 billion left by outgoing President Macky Sall has been discovered by the country's Court of Auditors. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed the information. The figures were allegedly falsified between 2019 and 2024.
According to a report by Barclays Bank, the country's public debt was expected to be 119% of its GDP by 2024.
"The people must not be made to suffer because of the questionable economic policy choices of the previous regime."
This makes Senegal the most indebted nation in Africa. For economist Ndongo Samba Sylla, "We must protect the people from this debt crisis" because they did not create it. It was the work of "the previous regime, with the International Monetary Fund responsible."
"The people must not be made to suffer because of the questionable and often illegal economic policy choices of the previous regime, with the complicity of the IMF," insisted Mr. Sylla, a guest on a program broadcast by the YouTube channel "Décrypter l'Afrique."
He adds that a hidden debt is a "non-debt" if it is not subject to parliamentary approval.
“As Thomas Sankara said, if we pay we die. If we don’t pay…”
Regarding the debt in general, the economist advocates that the government submit it to a "citizen audit."
"It will be up to the Senegalese people to decide what to do with the debt. For me, this is the most urgent issue right now, because Senegal cannot pay this debt. If the Senegalese people push, Senegal may (fail to pay this debt). Ecuador did it under Rafael Correa. Iceland did it during the international financial crisis," Mr. Sylla recalled. His position is therefore very clear: Senegal must not pay off this debt, because it is "unpayable."
"As Thomas Sankara said, if we pay, we die. If we don't pay, nothing will happen to the creditors. This debt is simply unpayable. Why? Because the only way to pay it is to get into debt again. And to get into debt again, you need the approval of the IMF. That means giving up everything that was promised to Senegalese citizens. It also means mortgaging Senegal's economic future for a generation," he argued.
He urges those who believe in an IMF panacea to lose their illusions: "The IMF will never resolve a debt crisis because crises are not resolved through austerity. The debt must simply be cancelled or repudiated."
Commentaires (15)
l'APR doit vraiment etre dissoute. Ils ont fait trop de mal au peuple Senegalais. Diomaye doit donner le feux vert a la Justice pour instruire pleinement tous ces dossiers... Ousmane Sonko les mettrait tous en prison en ce moment s'il avait le pouvoir de le faire.
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