The vibratory waves of the early signs of growth recovery coming on the heels of global financial-cum-economic crisis have reached the world’s most influential financial body. Meeting in Washington on 14 July, 2010 within the framework of its Article IV consultation with Cameroon, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) observed with satisfaction the milestone covered by the Cameroonian economy in spite of the risk connected to the uncertain global economic recovery.

The report issued at the end of the confab indicated inter alia that Cameroon’s economic outlook is likely to improve. Barring new exogenous shocks, real GDP growth is projected to gradually increase from 2.6 percent in 2010 to above 4.5 percent in 2014, it said; stating that this partly reflects the coming to fruition of recent investments in the oil sector. Inflation is expected to remain below 3 percent, in line with the regional convergence criterion.

But all these projections are likely to be thwarted if current hurdles to budgetary management, public debt servicing, business environment development and good governance are not seriously handled. The difficulties encountered in the execution of the State budget have so far made it impossible to establish a comprehensive quarterly report with precision in figures. Meeting in Yaounde last week, Finance controllers from the ten regions of the country could not come out with an exact global rate of execution after six months of operation. They however agreed that the rate of execution was weak giving as reasons; constant electricity cuts, obsolete information and communication technology equipment, lack of qualified staff, and above all, the recurrent discrepancy in the presentation of figures on the execution of current and investment budgets, among others.

The IMF Executive Board equally raised the issue of outstanding public debt encouraging the government to accelerate the process to reduce the burden. The encouragement comes at a critical moment when, Cameroon’s public debt is said to have increased by 9.5 percent at the end of the first quarter, according to Autonomous Sinking Fund report. Total public debt rose to FCFA 1,501 billion from FCFA 1,371 billion during the same period a year earlier. External debt rose from FCFA 943 billion last year to FCFA1,009 billion following disbursements from multilateral partners in support of the country’s major projects in the transport, energy, health, and water supply sectors. Internal debt on its part increased by 15 percent from FCFA 428 billion CFA in 2009 to FCFA 492 billion CFA Francs in 2010.

So far, the country has settled 1.2 percent of its total debt, paying out FCFA 18, 098 million the report said. All the payments have been made only to multilateral and bilateral partners to reduce external debt. This entails, much effort is needed to extend the servicing to the internal debt. Already, hands are crossed since the announcement at the beginning of the year to issue out treasury bonds in that light. For things to really change there must be rigour in the execution of reforms, programmes and projects.