(Reuters) – Senegal has made “significant progress” in implementing structural reforms but those have come at a slower pace than anticipated, the International Monetary Fund’s staff said on Wednesday.
Performance of the reform program was “broadly satisfactory” and “the economy should rebound in 2023 with a strong pickup in growth to 8.3% on the back of a temporary boost from oil and gas production and absent further escalation of the war in Ukraine,” Edward Gemayel, leader of the IMF mission to Senegal, said in a statement.
He added that delays in payments of a cash transfer scheme for the poorest households should be addressed urgently, and that it is important for authorities to “convincingly commit” to start phasing out energy subsidies in 2023 and unwind them by 2025.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by Jonathan Oatis)