VZCZCXRO8084
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #1190 2911207
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171207Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1278
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS DAKAR 001190 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EFIN SG
SUBJECT: WESTERN DONORS EXPRESS CONCERNS ABOUT BUDGET AND 
ARREARS TO PRIME MINISTER 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Charge accompanied a delegation of 
Ambassadors and international organization representatives to 
the Prime Minister,s office on October 10 to seek an update 
and clarification of the GOS,s payment arrears, off-budget 
expenditures and plans for the Government to bring accounts 
into balance.  The meeting yielded only a fragmentary 
explanation and a promise to provide more details at a later 
date.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In response to increasing alarm and consternation 
over the disheveled state of Senegalese national accounts, 
the Charge joined a delegation led by the EC Ambassador and 
including the Ambassadors of France, Canada, Germany, and the 
Netherlands, as well as representatives from the World Bank 
and Islamic Development Bank to seek more information from 
the Prime Minister Cheikh Hadjibou Soumare.  The non-U.S. 
participants all had greater and more urgent stakes in the 
discussions as many of their assistance programs contribute 
directly to budgetary support or will hinge on Senegal,s 
positive performance in an imminent IMF program review. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Prime Minister, who was flanked by new Budget 
Minister Abdoulaye Sow, was asked specifically to account for 
the Government,s failure to make good on massive accumulated 
arrears to Government vendors, off-budget expenses for items 
such as official travel and the transfer of a very large real 
estate tract to guarantee financing for payment to the North 
Korean firm constructing the President,s gigantic, USD 20 
million African Renaissance monument, and government plans to 
restore and maintain fiscal responsibility. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Prime Minister was unable to provide detailed 
responses to any of the queries, instead referring to a study 
now being conducted by the Budget Minister and promising to 
share detailed findings at a later date.  He said Senegal had 
been placed in a vise by rising world prices for food and 
petroleum products and had been forced to engage to subsidies 
to try to avoid a degradation of living standards.  He 
acknowledged that this strategy was not a viable in the 
long-term and that unspecified new approaches would need to 
be found.  He asked for donors, patience in responding to 
the request for an accounting of Government arrearages, 
stating that, due to the legerdemain of the recently 
dismissed Budget Minister Ibrahima Sarr, the GOS did not have 
reliable figures on the amount of money owed.  The Prime 
Minister promised to share detailed findings when available. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Comment.  While the meeting fell far short of its 
objectives, it did serve to give notice to the Government of 
the depth of donor concern over the disarray in Senegalese 
national accounts.  The delegation came away from the meeting 
with a sense that it may not be unreasonable to expect a more 
exact picture of Senegal,s overall finances than has been 
available in the recent past.  However, it is worth noting 
that the impact of the message was perhaps undermined by the 
October 14 announcement by the French Ambassador that his 
country was giving Senegal more than USD 40 million to 
recapitalize Senelec, the national power company.  End 
Comment. 
SMITH