THE SALARY BOMB

In May 2022, the monthly payroll of the Senegalese public administration increased from 77.6 Billion to 106.2 billion FCFA (source DPEE), i.e. 38.6% increase compared to the previous month.

Suddenly! For just a 2% increase in headcount, which means massive increases of salaries were made in favor of public administration agents, by an extraordinary wave of a magic wand. An increase of 5 index points has was also granted on pensions in this exceptional outburst of generosity.

This rare event, not to say unprecedented, throughout the world, and which should have triggered a debate national or, at least, a parliamentary defiance, went like a letter in the mail. Neither the political actors, including in the radical opposition, nor the economists from here and elsewhere, nor even the “prosecutors” of international financial institutions, so quick to injunctions, did not stop on what is nevertheless a real earthquake budget.

What brought this information to our attention was our activity as a software publisher. In Indeed, we have developed a data analysis tool economical allowing in-depth studies to be carried out on the data published by governments. This is by training our models on the data collected from the DPEE that we detected numerous statistical anomalies in the public accounts of the Republic of Senegal, including this sudden increase in the payroll of public administration.

No country in the world, including among the wealthiest, can withstand such a shock to its finances. public without more or less long-term consequences. This doesn't happen never done, it is totally irrational and irresponsible. Because, it must be remembered, these are not simple bonuses punctual, but of salaries and pensions, in other words, social benefits whose beneficiaries expect them to be preserved.

In an economy that struggles to produce wealth on an endogenous basis, the only way to cover these additional personnel costs is to resort to debt. Unless the new authorities do not find a miracle solution, we left to continue this exponential debt - another “legacy to future generations” of the President Macky Sall - until a possible cessation of payments.

Wages are increased by growth, by the wealth created in a progressing economy, and not by debt. However, in 2022, GDP had fallen sharply compared to 2021, with a growth rate dropping from 6.5% to 4.2%. Increase salaries in an almost symmetrical manner of 38.6% in this context falls under the madness.

The explanatory memorandum for the 2024 finance law invokes the need to boost salaries in a context of very high inflation. This argument is all the less relevant given that a massive increase in salaries is an aggravating factor for inflation (a simple law of the market: an increase in demand without an equivalent supply). Thus, to imported inflation is added endogenous inflation caused by an unreasoned decision by the executive.

The truth, when we analyze the context of this salary doping, is that we were coming out of the elections local events of March 2022 where the presidential camp suffered a significant setback. This revaluation salary, out of nowhere, right in the middle of the year, therefore appears as a monumental operation of conscience purchase which targeted public administration agents in an electoral context unfavorable to the coalition Benno Bokk Yaakaar.

The architects of this gigantic economic fraud did not stop there path. The operation having borne fruit in the legislative elections, they repeated the maneuver on the eve of the presidential election, much more discreetly. At the end of January 2024, the payroll monthly suddenly jumped again, going from 106 billion to 131.5 billion FCFA, a jump of 25%!

A substantial increase in the workforce is also observed, with anet recruitment of 2,451 agentsin one month, an increase of 1.4%. From Moreover, the figures reveal unusually high hospitalization costs for state agents. amounted to 4.5 billion FCFA in the month of January alone. These irregularities indicate, at least better, a lack of seriousness, at worst, accounting manipulations synonymous with embezzlement.

Summary of Unjustified Expenditures

• May 2022 (Between local and legislative): Recruitment of 2% of agents, increase salaries by almost 40% and raising the pension index by 5 basis points.
• January 2024 (A few weeks before the presidential election): Recruitment of nearly 2,500 new agents and salary increase of 25% compared to 2023.

These additional personnel costs have no legal basis. The ceiling for 2024 is set at 1,442 billion FCFA, but a monthly payroll of 131.5 billion exceeds this amount of nearly 136 billion FCFA over the year. Clearly, we have this is a case of flagrant violation of the law by the executive branch.

Public funds were used to achieve an immediate political objective, leaving a budget ball. Opaque management and habitual cunning suggests that unpleasant surprises await the news administration, as shown in the report on the management of the Force COVID19 fund. One of these surprises is the situation of public accounts, hidden under a web of lies and manipulation of figures.

This budgetary manipulation operation can be compared to a robbery, a real sabotage whose authors, starting with President Macky Sall himself, must answer to the justice. It is imperative that the Senegalese people be informed of this serious attack on its interests. This sabotage is afault very clear, very heavy, with serious consequences, carried out against our public finances.