(SenePlus) – The government led by Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko finds himself confronted with growing criticism concerning its economic policy, despite the promises of rupture that brought the Pastef party to power. In its May edition, the diplomatic world analyzes the contradictions and difficulties in which the new authorities face.
The economist Ndongo Samba Sylla, known for his critical positions towards the CFA franc, expresses serious reservations about the economic orientation of the government. “Pastef leaders are tax inspectors and domains, it can be seen,” he deplores, pointing to the professional formatting of the main party leaders. According to the economist, despite their breakdown speeches, the latter “always reflect in the macroeconomic framework bequeathed by colonization”, favoring tax and taxes as levers of action, while “other options exist”.
Even more worrying, Sylla fears a “scenario to Syriza”, in reference to the left Greek party which, once coming to power in 2015, had to abandon its reforming ambitions in the face of pressures from European financial institutions. The appointments of several technocrats from international financial institutions in key positions fuel this concern: Cheikh Diba in finances, former IMF and ex-director of budget programming under Macky Sall, or Abdourahmane Sarr to the economy, also former of the fund.
The country’s economic reality actually invites caution. The report of the Court of Auditors published in February revealed a catastrophic situation of public finances, with a debt around 28 billion euros (99.67% of GDP against 70% announced by the previous government) and a real budget deficit of 12.3% against 4.9% officially declared. In this context, the Moody’s agency degraded the sovereign note of Senegal to rank B3, that of “obligations considered to be speculative and subject to a high credit risk”.
Faced with this situation, even leftist leftist activists rallied to Pastef seem to have tempered their revolutionary ambitions. Mr. Madièye Mbodj, party vice-president and former Maoist activist, recognizes that it is necessary to “take into account the balance of power” and “temporarily compromise with the IMF and the World Bank”. A assumed pragmatism that contrasts with the inflamed speeches of the electoral campaign.
This ideological development is also manifested in the very organization of the government. Mr. Birome Holo Ba, 37, now directs the Operational Office for the Coordination and Monitoring of Projects and Programs (BOCS), a key structure directly attached to the Prime Minister. This framework trained in France, which could “as well work in a consulting firm in New York”, set up a structure inspired by Tony Blair’s “Delivery Units”, these units created by the former British Prime Minister to impose neoliberal reforms on the reluctant administrations.
Between the sovereignist and Pan -African aspirations displayed and the reality of economic constraints, the Pastef sails in sight, looking for a median route which risks disappointing its militant base while worrying the economic observers. The Senegalese example thus poses with acuity the question of the real room for maneuvering alternative political movements in the face of the imperatives of the international financial system.
