Togo wants to raise more money on the WAEMU market than it initially intended to in 2022
Thursday, 13 October 2022 18:23 
(Togo First) - The Togolese government scaled how much it wants to raise on the regional money market this year. Initially, Lomé was looking to get CFA533 billion from this market but it has now set sight on CFA663 billion, which is CFA130 billion or 24% more.
The revision aims to cover the government’s new budget expenses. Indeed, the budget, which now stands at CFA1,872 billion, is up by 5.4% - an increase that should help Togo better cope with the current global economic crisis. However, according to Victoire Tomegah-Dogbe, Prime Minister of Togo, the budget increase should produce no new taxes.
Regardless, This seems like a break in the budgetary rigor observed by the government since its last program with the IMF. This is a far cry from the time when Togo was the only country to meet all the WAEMU convergence criteria–in November 2019.
In 2022, the budget deficit is expected to reach 8.4% of GDP against 5.1% in the initial forecasts. The Prime Minister attributes the deficit’s widening to “new spending to meet security requirements and social spending that has been increased to protect the purchasing power of households, especially the most vulnerable.”
Concretely, the increase in spending is mostly due to new investments, not included in the public investment program, and to current transfers, which should grow by 612% and 42%, respectively.
Last month, the government announced a battery of social measures, which, according to PM Tomegah-Dogbe, should cost the State CFA67.3 billion. In a context where inflation keeps rising, borrowing on the regional market seems the best solution to finance the measures.
So far this year, Togo secured around CFA400 billion on the WAEMU’s market. On October 14, it plans to raise CFA30 billion more–its first operation this quarter.
Fiacre E. Kakpo
