On Saturday, November 18, 2023, during the opening of the Budget Session, the Minister of Finance and Budget affirmed that the Finance Law for 2024 management sets the budget at 7003 billion. Several media outlets have taken up the figure put forward by the state funder and stated that the adopted budget of Senegal in 2024 is 7003 billion.
However, on page 39 of the Initial Finance Bill (PLFI), it is clearly indicated that “Expenditures of the general budget in 2024 are set at 5,533.9 billion FCFA, compared to 4,965 billion FCFA in 2023, i.e. an increase of 568.9 billion FCFA (+11.5%)”
That “Receipts from the general budget in 2024 stand at 4,693.7 billion FCFA, compared to 3,919.5 billion FCFA in 2023, an increase of 774.3 billion FCFA (+19.8%). Revenues and expenditures from the Treasury Special Accounts are balanced at 221.5 billion FCFA.”
Which means that in total, “the revenue forecasts for the 2024 finance bill stand at 4,915.2 billion FCFA, compared to 4,096.4 billion FCFA for the year 2023, an increase of 818.8 billion FCFA (+20%),” reports the document.
Who adds that “the budget deficit will be 3.9% of GDP in 2024, or 840.2 billion FCFA compared to 4.9% of GDP in 2023 equivalent to 1,045.5 billion FCFA in 2023”.
The subterfuge of Minister Amadou Moustapha Ba who has relied on a revolutionary calculation method since 2009.
To establish his communication and pass it off as a letter to the Post Office in the media which took up his figure of 7003 billion, the Minister of Finance based himself on the old calculation method.
Still on page 39 of the document, a comparison is made, but veiled with the use of the Conditional. “In comparison with the old accounting method, the figures for the 2024 finance law would be of the order of 7,003.6 billion FCFA (=4,915.2 + 840.2 + 1,248.21), if we add the amortization of the debt in the amount of 1,248.21 billion FCFA,” we read in this paragraph which comes just after the real figures of the 2024 General Budget.
It is therefore on this paragraph that Minister Amadou Moustapha Ba relied to put forward the non-existent figure of 7003 billion.
Details from expert Abdou Karim Sock on this outdated accounting method
After the statement by the Minister of Finance, the expert consultant, Abdou Karim Sock wanted to put the facts in context.
“In the 1962 ordinance as well as in the LOLFs of 1963, 1975, 2001 and 2009, medium-long term borrowings were provided for as budgetary resources and were de facto taken into account in the budget figures,” underlines- he said straight away.
Before adding: “From 2009, the UEMOA directive on the LOLF transposed in 2011 (LOLF 2011-15 of July 8, 2011 repealed by LOLF 2020-07 of February 26, 2020) classifies medium-long term loans in cash resources and debt amortization in cash expenses.
Which makes him say: “In view of this reclassification, it is no longer legal or regulatory to continue to use the same accounting since 1960 regardless of the need for comparability. The amortization of the debt which falls under the financing table cannot be integrated into the balance table of the finance law as reflected in the provisions of article 44 of the LOLF of 2020.
Mr. Sock concludes: “The balance table shows: The overall budgetary balance resulting from the difference between BUDGETARY revenues and expenditures; The basic budget balance as defined by the WAEMU convergence, stability and growth pact.
