The political crisis around the finance bill is worsening in Senegal. The National Assembly rejected, on Tuesday, the revised budget presented by the government. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye thus suffered a setback from his former ally Ousmane Sonko, leader of the main opposition party, Pastef.
Published on: 03/11/2026 - 1:31 p.m. Modified on: 03/11/2026 - 2:20 p.m.
The revised finance bill presented by the government was rejected on Tuesday, November 3, for the third time in the National Assembly, largely dominated by the opposition. This is a victory for Ousmane Sonko, main opponent of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
This revised budget was presented as a key measure, particularly in relation to the requests made by the IMF on the management of public finances in this West African country.
Read alsoSenegal: political standoff around the 2026 budget
The rejection of this amending bill casts uncertainty over the $2.2 billion in aid expected from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose board of directors has still not approved the agreement concluded in September between the international institution and the Senegalese authorities.
“The bill (on the amending budget) is rejected,” declared the president of the plenary session of the National Assembly, El Malick Ndiaye. The parliamentary majority had already twice rejected the text in committee in October.
Out of 132 voters of the 165 deputies of the Assembly, 109 voted for rejection and 20 against. Three deputies abstained, according to the results of the vote communicated by Mr. Ndiaye, during a tense session marked by sometimes heated exchanges.
The debates were shortened after a request from deputy Amadou Ba, member of the majority Pastef party, based on parliamentary provisions allowing the text to be voted on directly, without discussion.
“We were not able to have all the relevant data” to assess the revised budget, said Mr. Ba, criticizing the government for not having communicated documents to the Assembly.
For his part, the president of the parliamentary group of the same party, Ayib Daffé, cited a lack of "budgetary sincerity" in the text presented by the government.
“The measures presented against the cost of living do not suit us. (There are) no measures planned to stabilize fuel prices” and avoid a possible increase, Mr. Daffé further said.
Finance Minister Cheikh Diba, bitter, said: "It's not good to play. You only have the pretext of budgetary sincerity to call into question a project as important as the amending finance bill," he said.
The revised budget aims to take into account the sharp rise in hydrocarbon prices, due in particular to tensions in the Middle East, the drop in tax revenue expected from a recent government recovery plan and the increase in debt service, according to a parliamentary document sent to AFP on Tuesday.
The envelope to support tariffs in electricity and domestic gas supply, for example, increased from a forecast of 250 billion FCFA (more than 381 million euros) to more than 790 billion FCFA (more than 1.2 million euros).
The government indicated, during committee work on October 30, that non-approval of the revised budget would notably compromise the supply of electricity and the payment of the debt owed to businesses and back pay to teachers. Senegal faces a public debt estimated at 132% of GDP at the end of 2024.
The Pastef party is led by the president of the National Assembly Ousmane Sonko, at odds with President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, his former long-time ally.
With AFP
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