Niger’s budget sees 40% cut following coup, international sanctions
The junta claimed in a televised announcement on Saturday that Niger has reduced its projected spending for 2023 by 40% as a result of international sanctions imposed after the military overthrew the government in a coup in July.
The announcement stated that the budget for this year, which was originally estimated to be 3.29 trillion CFA francs ($5.3 billion), had been reduced to 1.98 trillion, but did not specify where the reductions would occur.
In one of several recent coups in the Sahel area of West Africa, soldiers from the presidential guard seized President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and installed a transitional administration.
The regional ECOWAS group, the European Union, and the United States all denounced the seizure and responded by imposing penalties, freezing assets, or stopping aid.
Food prices have increased and there is a lack of essential items, such as life-saving medications, as a result of a trade blockade. However, it doesn’t seem to have lessened the junta’s popularity at home, where many people were tired of the suffering and apparent corruption they had to deal with under the Bazoum administration.
Additionally, it was recently reported that Niger is confronting the challenge of a growing debt burden. On Monday, September 4, 2023, Ali Lamine Zeine, the Prime Minister of Niger’s transitional government, revealed that the nation’s total debt has reached 5.200 billion CFA francs.
The seventh-largest producer of uranium, the radioactive element needed to make nuclear energy and treat cancer, is Niger. Its reserves became a subject of contention following the coup, with some experts predicting that the political instability in the West African country would affect the global Uranium trade, while the West assured that their Uranium supply would at the most be slightly affected.
In addition, it suffers from extreme poverty and persistent instability brought on by extremist Islamist organizations. It relies heavily on assistance. Around 40% of this year’s funding was anticipated to come from outside partners, according to initial predictions.
