Senegal PM Sonko Says Debt Can Be Managed Without Restructuring Despite Tough 2026 Schedule
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Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said on Thursday the West African nation would not need to implement a debt restructuring plan, despite what he described as a difficult repayment schedule. He said government analysis showed a path out of the situation without restructuring and argued the country’s debt should be viewed as sustainable.
The International Monetary Fund has said Senegal’s debt hit 132% of GDP at the end of 2024 after the current leadership uncovered billions of dollars in previously unreported liabilities attributed to the prior administration. Following that discovery, the Fund froze a $1.8 billion lending programme, leaving Senegal more dependent on regional debt auctions to meet its financing needs.
Analysts and investors have said a restructuring is increasingly likely, and Sonko has previously criticised IMF pressure to pursue such a path. Speaking at a joint press conference with Mauritania’s prime minister, he said Senegal had managed repayments for a year and a half and remained confident it could find solutions even with particularly challenging deadlines this year.
Sonko said Senegal’s projections for growth and revenue were reasonable and had been validated by its partners, including the IMF, but he framed financing as the central constraint. Finance Minister Cheikh Diba said last week that Senegal hoped to finalise an IMF programme “very quickly” and that progress had been made on multiple issues tied to managing the debt crisis.
