Senegal working on rebasing country's GDP

16/7/2025 7:12

Senegal has begun recalculating its gross domestic product using an updated base year in a move that could result in an improvement in its debt metrics, its finance ministry said on Tuesday in response to a credit rating downgrade.



Senegal revealed last year it had billions of dollars of previously unreported debt, leading the International Monetary Fund to suspend its lending programme and triggering a series of ratings downgrades and a sharp selloff in its government bond market.



The IMF is awaiting final details on the extent of the misreporting and how it was able to take place before possibly restarting its programme with the West African nation.



"While the (Senegalese) authorities have expressed their intention to rebase GDP, this is not a prerequisite for progressing in our engagement," said the IMF via a spokesperson. "The timing of a potential Board meeting will depend on the progress made in resolving the misreporting issue and reaching

agreement on key policy measures."



The government has been working on a "GDP rebasing exercise" the finance ministry said in a statement, the results of which are expected to be published in the coming months.