Announcement of Meeting of the Consultative Group for Senegal on December 14, 1984

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W ., Washington , D.C. 20433 , U.S.A. BANK NEWS RELEASE Contact: Pamela Brennan December 14, 1984 (202) 477-3293 MEETING OF THE CONSULTATIVE GROUP FOR SENEGAL A Consultative Group for Senegal met for the first time in Paris on December 13 and 14, 1984, to consider Senegal's medium and long-term economic and financial adjustment program, its proposed Action Program to implement the necessary adjustment measures and its needs for external assistance. The Group comprising 9 bilateral donors and 14 multilateral institutions met under the Chairmanship of Mr. Wilfried P. Thalwitz, Vice-President, Western Africa Region, World Bank. The Senegal Delegation was led by His Excellency Mr. Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Minister of Plan and Cooperation, and included the Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Mamadou Toure, the Minister of Rural Development, Mr. Amadou Bator Diop, as well as several senior officials of the Ministries of Planning, Finance, and Rural Development and of the Central Bank. The Group discussed the current situation of the Senegalese economy and prospects to restore public finance and balance of payments equilibrium in the medium to long-term and to lay the basis for sustained economic growth. It noted with satisfaction actions already taken by the Government to reduce the budget deficit, as well as those in the area of agricultural reform, commodity price adjustment, and reform of the parapublic sector. The Government's Statement of General Economic Policy was endorsed by the meeting as providing a sound basis for restoring Senegal's financial stability and economic growth. Delegates stressed the need for further efforts to translate the objectives of this statement into specific actions given the necessity for continued efforts to cut back spending and imports, to increase domestic savings, to improve incentives and productivity in agriculture, to improve public sector management, and to reflect in the Seventh Plan to be prepared in 1985 the investment priorities identified in the Government report. The Action Plan to implement the adjustment measures was welcomed as a useful tool for implementation follow-up. Delegates welcomed the Government's decision to set up a high-level Government Committee headed by the President of  -2- Senegal, to periodically review progress on implementing the adjustment program. The World Bank also agreed to provide continuing assistance to Senegal in coordinating donors' financial support for this program. The meeting concluded with a discussion of Senegal's external aid requirements, particularly for quick disbursing assistance on concessional terms. It was recognized that Senegal required substantial assistance from external aid sources to help the Government implement its adjustment program. Although it had been agreed at the outset that the meeting would not be a pledging session, on the basis of preliminary indications it has been estimated that Senegal could count on assistance of about US$500 million in 1985. Participants agreed to indicate to the World Bank their expected levels and type of assistance to Senegal for 1985 and 1986 not later than January 1985. To help ensure efficient use of external resources, the Group agreed that aid coordination would be further strengthened through periodic donor meetings to discuss sectoral development policies and financing needs, with the World Bank being the focal point of this assistance. Representatives of the Governments of Belgium, Canada, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, and of the African Development Bank, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the Commission of the European Communities, the European Investment Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the International Monetary Fund, the Islamic Development Bank, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the United Nations Development Programme, the West Africa Development Bank, the World Bank, and the World Food Programme attended the meeting. The Governments of the Republic of Korea and of the Netherlands, and the Development · Assistance committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development were represented as observers. The meeting agreed that the Consultative Group for Senegal should reconvene in mid-1986 to review progress and to consider further steps. -0-