Senegal Bans Ministers From Foreign Travel

Government ministers in Senegal have been banned from all non-essential foreign travel following the rise in the price of oil resulting from the conflict in Iran, the prime minister has announced.

Speaking at a youth rally on Friday, Ousmane Sonko said the current cost of a barrel of oil was approaching double what had been budgeted for.

According to the BBC, Sonko has postponed his own trips to Niger, Spain and France as part of the restrictions. He said that the mines minister would announce further measures to curb government spending in the coming week.

Senegal’s move is the latest response from the continent to the oil price rise, which has seen countries reducing fuel levies and rationing electricity.

In his speech to young people, the prime minister said he did not want to “frighten” his audience or put pressure on them. Instead, he wanted to give them a “sense of this world, which is a difficult world”, but added that though things were hard the Senegalese were resilient.

Despite a fledgling oil and gas industry, Senegal relies heavily on importing fuel.

Last year, the International Monetary Fund described the economy as “robust” with a growth rate of almost 8% and low inflation.

But its public debt – standing at more than 130% of the total annual size of the economy – is high. Sonko, installed as prime minister two years ago, blamed the previous government for saddling his administration with the debt, which he said had made the current situation of dealing with the price of oil even more difficult.