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American agency S&P downgrades Senegal's credit rating from B to B-

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye leaves the Elysee Palace after a lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, in Paris, Thursday June 20 2024.   -  
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Debt crisis

The outlook is negative, quite literally.

The American credit rating agency Standard and Poor's downgraded Senegal's rating to B minus on Monday.

The rating was followed by a negative outlook from the agency, equivalent to warning of another downgrade to come.

Senegal's new rating comes as the country faces a debt crisis that S and P said could "intensify funding pressures on the government".

The agency estimated Dakar's debt-to-GDP ratio for last year at 118%, up from its previous forecast of 104%.

In February, Moody's, another American agency, already downgraded Senegal's rating from B1 to B3, also accompanied by a negative outlook.

Dakar has put forward a plan to reduce the budget deficit by 3% until 2027... a challenging task.