Economic and Social Resilience Program
As part of the economic and social resilience program in the face of COVID 19, the Ministry of Tourism and Air Transport is launching this digital platform in order to structure support for sector stakeholders. The main issues are as follows:
- -Foster an inclusive approach that allows all segments of the sector to benefit from the program;
- -Respond efficiently to the requests of the sector’s stakeholders;
- -Manage the subscriptions of the actors to the credit offers proposed by the program.
The main objective of the contingency plan of the Ministry of Health and Social Action is to strengthen Senegal’s capacity to deal with the epidemic through the following measures
- Rapid isolation of these cases
- Strengthening infection prevention and control in health facilities and in the community
- Intensifying risk communication about the infection and involving people in the response
- Coordination of the response to the epidemic
Overall, an envelope of CFAF 64.4 billion was allocated to the health sector
Food distribution
- 69 billion CFA francs to purchase food for 1 million households, including the daraas, strictly targeting the poorest
- Food kit of basic necessities (pasta, rice, soap, sugar) for an amount of 66 000 FCFA per household
- The terms of this measure are summarized below
- Frequency one time only
- National coverage
- Beneficiaries 1,000,000 poor households (including daraas)
- Budget 69 billion FCFA (including logistics costs)
- Start April 2020
Food distribution
- Allocations totaling CFAF 12.5 billion will be made to consulates and embassies for distribution and monitoring
- The Senegalese diaspora is mainly distributed between France, Italy, Spain, countries deeply affected by the COVID 19 pandemic and which have implemented total containment measures
- Funds will help the diaspora that has been deeply affected by this pandemic
Payment of water and electricity bills
- Objective: help the vulnerable
- Support for vulnerable populations in the entire social bracket of about CFAF 15.5 billion and CFAF 3 billion for two months, respectively for electricity bills (and Sen’ Water)
- Terms of this phase are summarized below
- Bimonthly frequency
- Duration two months
- National coverage
- 975,522 households for electricity 670,000 households for water
- Budget 18.5 billion FCFA
- Start date May 2020
- Details of the proposed measures for macroeconomic and financial stability
General measures
Taxation
- Partial remission of the tax debt recorded as of December 31, 2019, owed by companies and individuals, for a total amount of CFAF 200 billion
- General payment period for suspended VAT collected by customs and tax authorities from 12 to 24 months
- Tax rebates and suspensions for companies that keep their workers active or pay more than 70% of the wages of employees who are laid off
Discharge of the domestic debt
- 302 billion CFA francs devoted to payments due to government suppliers
Specific measures for the most impacted sectors
Taxation
- Deferred payment of taxes until July 15, 2020
Financing
- Establishment, in partnership with the banking sector (BCEAO and commercial banks), of a financing mechanism for companies affected by the COVID-19 crisis to enable them to access the necessary resources to meet their urgent needs. This mechanism should enable banks to inject a substantial amount of financing for these companies (around 200 billion CFA francs) in the form of cash flow or investment loans with interest rate and maturity conditions that take into account their situation. Eligibility criteria and exit rate conditions will be discussed with the banks. In order to be operational, this system will have to be combined with accompanying measures in terms of resource mobilization, risk control and the easing of certain regulatory provisions enacted by the Central Bank. Discussions, to be finalized as soon as possible through a framework agreement, have already been initiated with the banking profession. Development partners could contribute alongside the State, notably by guaranteeing these loans.
Other
- An envelope of 100 billion CFA francs specifically dedicated to direct support for the sectors of the economy hardest hit by the crisis, according to terms to be defined in consultation with the sectoral departments concerned.
The Economic and Social Resilience Program will ensure the supply of hydrocarbons, medical products, pharmaceuticals, and basic necessities through the following measures
- Strengthening the surveillance of the internal market
- The constitution of security stocks for all essential foodstuffs and during the whole period of the crisis
- Maintaining the prices of the main staple foods at their pre-crisis levels throughout the pandemic period
- The access of Senegalese consumers to high quality products throughout the national territory
- Mitigating impacts on domestic supply and facilitating trade operations
- Mobilization of financing from development partners, the private sector and the State, as well as budgetary savings from the State, will enable the Fonds FORCE COVID 19 to have the necessary resources
- To date, discussions have been initiated with our partners for the mobilization of emergency funding:
- The IMF has already announced rapid emergency financial assistance
- The World Bank’s Board of Directors has approved an initial operation to support the health response Other financial support is being finalized
- Discussions are underway with other donors for financial support. These include the IDB and the ADB
- Regional institutions such as BOAD have also provided financial support to Fonds Force COVID 10
- The private sector has already contributed 10 billion CFA francs. These donations will be deducted from their future taxable income
- The State favors financing in the form of grants and concessional loans to mobilize the remaining financing
- As a last resort, a debt maturity extension could be considered