DPG: Ahmadou Al Aminou Lô advocates for "objective and coherent" relations with the IMF

On Tuesday, at the National Assembly, Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo focused on the country's financial situation and Senegal's relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "Senegal has considerable assets to move from having one of the most degraded debt profiles in the world to the position it virtually held before the discovery of the so-called hidden debt. We must therefore re-establish objective and coherent relations with the international financial community," he declared.

Speaking about relations with the IMF, he asserted that the Senegalese people have a right to transparency. “First of all, I would like to address the inaccurate perception surrounding this institution, of which Senegal is a member along with 190 other countries. I urge the Senegalese people to read the IMF Articles of Agreement, adopted in 1944 at Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) and which entered into force on December 27, 1945, at the end of the war. Several amendments have since been made to these Articles of Agreement by the Board of Governors, which includes the Senegalese Minister of Finance and representatives of the other member countries,” he explained.

"The IMF monitors states, which must provide it with the information necessary for this monitoring."

Ousmane Sonko's successor stated that the IMF's goals are clearly stated in Article 1 of its statutes: to promote international monetary cooperation, facilitate the increase of international trade and thereby growth and employment; promote exchange rate stability by avoiding competitive depreciations, and give confidence to member states by making the Fund's general resources available to them with adequate guarantees to correct balance of payments imbalances.

"In accordance with Article IV of its Articles of Agreement, the IMF exercises surveillance over States which must provide it with the information necessary for this surveillance. This is the reality of this Institution, far from the fantasies! Whether you have debt problems or not, whether you are a country like the USA, China, France, Ivory Coast or Senegal, this surveillance is mandatory and obligatory," he declared.

According to him, concluding a program with the IMF is not an obligation, "but the consequences are immeasurable of doing without it when going through non-structural financial difficulties without an effective and rapid endogenous solution!" "The IMF is the only institution authorized to give an opinion on the macroeconomic trajectory of a country and the sustainability of the debt!", he says.

“Senegal’s previous program with the IMF was interrupted by the discovery of erroneous data transmitted in the past, a case whose magnitude…”

The Prime Minister noted that Senegal's previous program with the IMF "was interrupted by the discovery of erroneous data submitted in the past, a case whose scale, according to the institution itself, is unprecedented." "This matter has been handled as it should have been: the figures have been corrected, and the deficiencies that caused the discrepancies have been fully addressed or are in the process of being corrected," he stated.

Furthermore, he said that discussions on a new program, focused on investment and transparency, resulted in a technical agreement with IMF staff on September 1, 2026.

What does this agreement say? Al Aminou Lo retorts: "Only rational 'prudent' management measures to be taken by undertaking reforms to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, reduce budgetary and external vulnerabilities and increase social spending to support sustainable growth led by the private sector."