• Senegal proposes $13.2B budget for 2026, up 12.4%
• Debt service, wages, and operations form major spending areas
• Growth seen slowing despite strong hydrocarbon-driven 2025 performance
  

Senegal has proposed a 2026 budget of 7,433.9 billion XOF (about $13.2 billion), up 12.4% from 2025, according to a report published by the Ministry of Budget on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. The draft budget allocates 1,190.6 billion XOF for public debt service, 1,532.8 billion XOF for personnel costs, and 1,650 billion XOF for operating expenses.

Projected revenue is 6,188.8 billion XOF, up 23.4% from the previous year. This includes 5,384.8 billion XOF in tax revenue and 355.9 billion XOF in non-tax income, including 59 billion XOF from the Economic and Social Resilience Program (PRES). The 2026 financing requirement is estimated at 6,075.2 billion XOF, covering debt repayments and the overall budget deficit.

The draft budget follows the government’s strategic priorities under the National Transformation Agenda (Vision 2050) and the “Emergency Strategy for Economic Recovery Phase,” the document said.

Senegal continues to face fiscal pressures, with public debt estimated at 119% of GDP, driven partly by bank loans contracted outside official budget channels and a fiscal deficit of about 12% of GDP in 2024.

 Even so, its economy remains one of the strongest in the WAEMU zone, with growth estimated at 12.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), supported by expansion in the hydrocarbon sector.

For 2026, authorities expect growth of around 5%, while the IMF forecasts 3%.

Lydie Mobio