Senegal’s ousted Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, softened ‌his tone on debt restructuring in an interview broadcast this Monday, saying he does not hold “rigid positions” on the issue, a departure from his previous staunch opposition to such a move.

While he was dismissed by ​President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who dissolved the government last month, lawmakers then voted to make ​Sonko speaker of the National Assembly, giving him a powerful position to ⁠influence government policy.

In his new role, Sonko could have considerable ability to obstruct Faye’s agenda, ​including potentially resisting reforms required for a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. An IMF team is expected to ​resume talks this week over a new lending programme.

In the interview with French outlets RFI and France 24, Sonko said policymakers must respond pragmatically to the country’s mounting debt crisis, the result of misreported debt under ​former President Macky Sall’s government.
“We don’t hold rigid positions in the absolute sense. We are ​examining the situation with clarity,” Sonko said, adding that any solution should “meet the requirements of the moment”.
The comments mark ‌a ⁠shift from his stance last November, when he said at a rally that the IMF was pushing for debt restructuring and that it would be a “disgrace”.
The IMF suspended Senegal’s previous $1.8 billion lending programme after the misreported debt came to light.

–Reuters–