{
  "title": "IMF Survey : New Plan Sets Senegal On Course to Become Emerging Economy",
  "publication": "IMF News, December 24, 2014",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/socar122414a",
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  "summary": "A new development plan designed to help Senegal exit a trap of low growth and high poverty can boost the economy if it is consistently implemented, IMF staff say in a regular review of the West African country. They add that the plan presents a unique opportunity.",
  "authors": [
    "Alexei Kireyev IMF African Department December"
  ],
  "publishDate": "2014-12-24",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Economic health check and recent performance",
      "content": "- Growth history:\n  - 1995–2005: growth of 4.5 percent, with poverty declining from 68 to 48 percent.\n  - 2006–2013: growth decelerated to an average of 3.4 percent.\n- Recent shocks and outcomes:\n  - Senegal experienced spikes in food and fuel prices, the global financial crisis, regional droughts and floods, and spillovers from the Ebola outbreak.\n  - As a result, poverty has declined only slightly and stands at about 47 percent.\n- IMF growth projections:\n  - GDP growth can rise to 4.5 percent in 2014 and reach 7 percent by 2019, conditional on consistent implementation of reforms while preserving fiscal and debt sustainability."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Fiscal outlook and public investment",
      "content": "- Fiscal performance and targets:\n  - Overall deficit is expected to fall to about 5 percent of GDP in 2014.\n  - The 2015 budget targets a further reduction in the deficit to 4.7 percent of GDP.\n  - Authorities remain committed to bringing the fiscal deficit in line with the West African Economic and Monetary Union target of 3 percent of GDP in the medium term.\n- Policy stance on investment and financing:\n  - Authorities expect to limit the deficit by holding back appropriations for new public investment projects until feasibility studies are ready.\n  - IMF recommended anchoring plan-related scaling up of public investment on long-term debt sustainability within a medium-term budget framework.\n  - Decisions to contract nonconcessional financing should be carefully weighed.\n- Fiscal policy measures IMF highlights:\n  - Further strengthening of tax and expenditure policy measures.\n  - Improved public investment efficiency.\n  - Ensure all investment is consistent with earlier fiscal consolidation plans and Senegal’s absorptive capacity."
    },
    {
      "heading": "\"Plan Sénégal Emergent\" — objectives and pillars",
      "content": "- Objective:\n  - Help Senegal exit the trap of low growth and high poverty and make Senegal a hub for West Africa and an emerging economy by 2035.\n- Three pillars of the plan:\n  - Higher and sustainable growth through structural transformation;\n  - Human development and social protection; and\n  - Improved governance, peace, and security.\n- Implementation priorities emphasized:\n  - Attract foreign investment and increase private investment.\n  - Constrain public consumption and increase public savings to create fiscal space for higher public investment in human capital and public infrastructure.\n  - Improve delivery of public services and the impact of public spending through public financial management reforms.\n  - Strengthen social safety nets."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Structural reforms and sectoral priorities",
      "content": "- Reforms recommended:\n  - Improve business climate and governance.\n  - Investment in human capital and public infrastructure.\n  - Comprehensive restructuring of the energy sector.\n  - Increase export competitiveness.\n- Agriculture and exports:\n  - Senegal’s export base is relatively well diversified, but high-quality exports bear a comparatively low weight.\n  - Sectors with comparatively low quality exports, such as food and live animals, constitute a large share of exported products.\n  - With the labor force concentrated in agriculture, policies fostering agricultural product quality may supplement foreign investment–driven export diversification."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Financial sector and macroprudential concerns",
      "content": "- Financial vulnerabilities to address:\n  - Quality of bank assets and the high level of nonperforming loans.\n  - Need for continued vigilance and close cooperation with the Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest and the West African Economic and Monetary Union’s Banking Commission.\n  - Improve access to financial services."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Institutional reforms and budgetary governance",
      "content": "- IMF emphasis on public financing reforms:\n  - Strengthen budget institutions and public financing.\n  - Focus on macro-fiscal policy design.\n  - Develop a medium-term expenditure framework.\n  - Improve fiscal discipline in budget execution."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Experience of peers and feasibility of targets",
      "content": "- Peer-country evidence:\n  - Between 1990 and 2013, about 40 countries achieved average growth in real purchasing power per capita GDP of 5 percent or more.\n  - Comparator countries cited include Cape Verde, Guyana, Indonesia, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Uganda, and Vietnam.\n- Implication for Senegal:\n  - Experience of peers suggests structural reforms could lift Senegal’s growth to 7 percent in the medium term, driven by foreign investment–generated exports.\n  - Authorities have engaged in peer learning and held a high-level brainstorming on “Transforming Senegal into a Middle-Income Economy” at IMF headquarters on December 15–17, 2014.\n\nIMF Survey : New Plan Sets Senegal On Course to Become Emerging Economy\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus\n- PRESS CENTER\n- IMF Country Focus\n- Read the report\n- Senegal and the IMF\n- Reforms—path to higher status\n- Sustain Africa’s growth\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/socar122414a"
    }
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    "Authors: Alexei Kireyev IMF African Department December",
    "Published: December 24, 2014",
    "Growth history:",
    "Recent shocks and outcomes:",
    "IMF growth projections:",
    "Fiscal performance and targets:",
    "Policy stance on investment and financing:",
    "Fiscal policy measures IMF highlights:",
    "Objective:",
    "Three pillars of the plan:",
    "Implementation priorities emphasized:",
    "Reforms recommended:",
    "Agriculture and exports:",
    "Financial vulnerabilities to address:",
    "IMF emphasis on public financing reforms:",
    "Peer-country evidence:",
    "Implication for Senegal:",
    "[https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus](https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus)",
    "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)",
    "[IMF Country Focus](https://www.imf.org/en/news/country-focus)",
    "[Read the report](http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm)",
    "[Senegal and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/sen/index.htm)",
    "[Reforms—path to higher status](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2014/CAR121614A.htm)",
    "[Sustain Africa’s growth](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2014/car101114a.htm)",
    "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)"
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