Senegal
Much of Senegal's economic growth during the next few years will be concentrated in the expanding mining sector related to increased production and investment. Infrastructure development is improving the operating environment.
With Senegal’s ambitious development plan, the PSE, entering its second phase this year (set to run over the 2019-23 period), we expect growth to remain strong going forward. Specifically, we forecast growth to reach 7% this year and 7.5% p.a. over the 2019-25 period. At the heart of the PSE lies the idea of structurally transforming the economy to achieve ‘economic emergence’ by 2035. In this light, various reforms targeted at promoting high-impact investment and agriculture-led, as well as industry-led transformation are underway. Growth should also be fuelled by the start of gas and oil production in 2021 and 2022, respectively. These various developments will, however, drive imports of machinery, equipment and services higher and hence result in the widening of the current account deficit from 7.0% in 2018 to 7.6% of GDP this year. The recent decision by the National Assembly to revise the 2019 budget downwards by 2% also suggests that the pre-election budget (adopted two months before the February presidential election) had over-projected revenues for the year. The new budget incorporates lower subsidies for energy products, which resulted in a fuel price hike that came into effect on June 26. This should place upward pressure on inflation going forward. (Source: Senegal Annual Country Profile, July 2019.)
Macroeconomic Data
(2018)
|
Fiscal Balance (as a % of GDP) |
-3.4 |
|
Consumer Price Index (% change y-o-y, avg) |
0.5 |
|
Current Account Balance (as a % of GDP) |
-7.0 |
|
Real GDP (annual % change) |
6.8 |
|
GDP per Capita, US$ |
1,519.7 |
|
Import Cover (months) |
4.8 |
|
Population, million |
15.9 |
| Total External Debt (as a % of GDP) |
43.5 |