In Senegal, the painful memory of the "structural adjustment years" resurfaces after the agreement reached with the IMF

On September 8, Senegal's Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Mohamed Lô mistakenly mentioned "structural adjustment" during a speech about an IMF agreement, prompting a swift retraction. This term evokes painful memories of past economic reforms in Senegal, which included salary freezes and spending cuts under IMF guidance from 1979 to 1998. The opposition party, Pastef, seized on the slip to criticize the government's deal with the IMF aimed at managing the country's high public debt, projected to reach 132% of GDP by the end of 2024.