In the second quarter of 2024, the international economic environment was marked by contrasting trends in real GDP in the various economies and contained inflation in most regions of the world. In the group of advanced economies, and according to the OECD, economic growth is estimated at 0.7%, after 0.8% in the previous quarter. In the emerging and developing countries, there was a slowdown in China (+0.5% after +1.5% in the first quarter) and India (+1.3% after +1.7%), and an upturn in activity in South Africa (+0.4% compared to -0.1% in the previous quarter).
For 2024 as a whole, and according to the IMF (October 2024), growth in the world economy is estimated at 3.2% in 2024 after 3.3% in 2023. Growth is expected to be 1.8% in 2024 after 1.7% in 2023 in the group of advanced countries, and 4.2% after 4.4% in the group of emerging and developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, growth is expected to stand at 3.6% in 2024, as in 2023.
In terms of prices, global inflation is set to decelerate to 5.8% in 2024 from 6.7% in 2023. Disinflation would be faster in advanced economies (with an inflation rate of 2.2% after 3.1% in 2023) than in the group of emerging and developing countries (7.9% after 8.1%).
With regard to the index of commodity prices exported by Cameroon rose by 10.1% in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the previous quarter, as a result of the 2.6% increase in the price of energy products and the 13.7% rise in the price of non energy products. The average price of crude oil rose from $83.0 to $84.6 per barrel, while that of liquefied natural gas stood at $10.0 per million BTU, after $8.7 in the first quarter of 2024.
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The Minister of Finance, His Excellency LOUIS PAUL MOTAZE has signed a circular containing instructions on the execution of the Finance Laws, and the monitoring and control of the execution of the State budget and other public entities for Fiscal Year 2025.
REFERENCE MANUEL FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET OF THE REGIONAL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES
The public has the right to complete, timely and useful information on how the Government collects and spends public money, i.e. the money of all Cameroonians. This prescription is made by Law N°2018/011 of 11 July 2018 on the Code of Transparency and Good Governance in the Management of Public Finances in Cameroon.
Budget transparency is therefore a fundamental principle of good governance. It is an essential condition for better implementation of economic and social development policies and enables our country to align itself with international standards.
To this end, the government draws up a citizen budget every year since 2019. This document sets out the essentials of the Finance Law in simple, easy-to-understand language. The citizen budget uses illustrations to present to readers the voted budget that the State must implement. It makes it easier for citizens to access financial and tax information, and to assess the relevance of budget choices to their expectations. It also encourages citizens to monitor the Government’s public policies.
This publication summarises and explains the 2025 Finance Law, which is a budget of socio-economic impetus. To meet the challenge of economic development and security, the budget’s priorities and strategic choices have been aligned with the objectives of the National Development Strategy 2020-2030 (NDS30). This edition therefore highlights the government’s ambitions in the areas of infrastructure, education, health, water, agriculture, research and employment. It also addresses issues such as the fight against insecurity, decentralisation, the reduction of gender inequality and climate change.
The government’s ambitions call on us all to redouble our efforts to mobilise public resources and to ensure that they are put to the best possible use. In this vein, every citizen is called upon to make a patriotic leap forward, both in fulfilling his or her duty to pay taxes and in managing public resources. This will enable us to achieve our economic, social and environmental development objectives.
The Minister of Finance
Louis-Paul MOTAZE
The publication of periodic budget execution reports is a requirement of Law N°2018/011 of 11 July 2018 on the Code of Transparency and Good Governance in Public Finance Management, which states in Article 36 that ‘Periodic reports on the budget implementation status shall be published during the year.”. This requirement is also in line with Article 85 paragraph 8 of Law N°2018/012 of 11 July 2018 on the Fiscal Regime of the State and Other Public Entities, which states that ” Government shall table before Parliament for information and control, quarterly reports on the execution of the budget in revenue and in expenditure, as well as on the implementation of the finance law. These reports shall be made available to the public.”
In addition, the mid-term reports on budget implementation make it possible to identify problems encountered in budget management and to propose the adjustments needed to ensure the efficient use of public resources and, ultimately, the achievement of economic and social policy objectives. For MINFI, they are therefore an analytical tool for regular monitoring of budget implementation in a context marked by the quest for greater budgetary discipline. From another angle, these reports enable the public to gauge whether their expectations have been met in terms of the implementation of public policies adopted at the beginning of the year to improve their living conditions.
This report gives an account of the financial implementation of the 2024 budget at the end of the first half of 2024. It covers the budgetary operations of the general budget as well as those of the Special Appropriation Accounts (SAA). Most of the data used comes from the TABORD at the end of June 2024 produced by MINFI’s Forecasting Division. Other data come from the databases of the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT), the National Sinking Fund of Cameroon (CAA), the Directorate-General of Taxation (DGI), the Directorate-General of Customs (DGD) and the Directorate-General of Treasury and Financial and Monetary Cooperation (DGTCFM).
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Pursuant to the provisions of Law No. 2018/012 of 11 July 2018 on the Fiscal Regime of the State and Other Public Entities in its article 62(2), the Minister of Finance, in a circular letter dated 15 October, reminded principal, secondary and delegated authorising officers, programme managers, contracting authorities and delegated contracting authorities, etc. of the timetable for operations as follows:
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Within the framework of the management of files identified and audited under the floating debt of the State and its branches, for the 2000-2019 period,
The Minister of Finance hereby informs service providers and other beneficiaries whose claims have been validated and published on the www.minfi.gov.cm and www.dgb.cm websites, that they must imperatively produce the original supporting documents of the related files, to be presented as of xxxxxdatexxxxx, on the ground floor of the R+3 glass annex building, of the Directorate General of Budget, situated in the Fouda neighbourhood, located between the TOTAL FOUDA filling Station and the JOUVENCE 2000 Hotel. An appropriate mechanism is put in place to allow the receipt and verification of the said documents.
An Instruction of the Minister of Finance setting out the budgetary and accounting procedures applicable to the clearance of this debt was signed to this effect. Depending on the nature of the receivables concerned, the various required documents are annexed to this press release.
Particularly with regard to commercial debt, which is jointly supported by the State and the debtor entities, the payment to the service providers will be made in full according to the programming adopted for this purpose, then the recourse measures of withholding 30% will be applied to the debtor entities in accordance with the provisions relating thereto contained in the above-mentioned instruction.
The payment windows used for the settlement of the floating debt are: the Ad hoc Specialized Pay office and the Autonomous Sinking Fund (CAA). To do this, the ad hoc Specialized Pay office ensures the payment of the tax-customs debt, the commercial debt of the central public administrations (ministries and similar structures) and the academic debt. The Autonomous Sinking Fund is the payment window for the social debt, the rental debt, other commercial debts (RLAs, Public Establishments and Enterprises), and compensation.
Service providers and beneficiaries liable to the tax authorities (DGT and DGC) or the Debt Recovery Company (SRC), will be subject to deductions, to the tune of the said debts.
In addition, the Minister of Finance reserves the right to cancel any validated debt if new elements prove the non-accountability of its basis, and the alleged beneficiary could also be prosecuted for attempted misappropriation of public funds.
DOWNLOAD THE COMMUNIQUE AND THE APPENDIX ON SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS TO BE PROVIDED
The Ministry of Finance’s business survey for the first quarter of 2024 shows that overall business sales declined by 2.6% compared to the previous quarter. This decline was driven by sales in the primary and tertiary sectors, dropping by 3.6% and 4.8% respectively. Conversely, turnover in the secondary sector rose by 1.9%. Overall, there has also been a drop in the wage bill (-1.1%) and in the number of employees (-3.8%).
Security and climate challenges are the main concerns cited by business leaders. Similarly, the high level of inflation, with its effects felt in several sectors, remains a concern for the Government. GDP growth is forecasted at 4.1% in 2024, after 3.3% in 2023.
The laws of 11 July 2018 relating respectively to the fiscal regime of the State and other public entities, and the Code of transparency and good governance in the management of public finances in Cameroon have enriched the process of elaborating the finance law with a crucial stage that is the Budgetary Orientation Debate (BOD). Indeed, article 11 of the abovementioned fiscal regime stipulates that: (1) “Each year before 1 July, the Government transmits to Parliament the medium-term framework documents…, accompanied by a report on the macroeconomic situation and ‘a report on the execution of the budget for the current fiscal year’; (2) “On the basis of these documents and reports, Parliament organizes a Budgetary Orientation Debate in public session, but without a vote.”
The Budgetary Orientation Debate allows Parliament to intervene upstream of the budgetary procedure to contribute to and ensure the definition, by the Government, of a sound and effective budgetary policy. This is the place for parliamentarians to ensure the realism of the macroeconomic hypotheses underlying the draft budget in preparation and to give their opinion on the Government’s budgetary choices.
In addition, the BOD offers the Legislature the opportunity to debate each year with the Government the sustainability of public finances, through better monitoring of public deficits and debt; the challenge being to create conditions for the adoption of finance laws permanently favourable to macroeconomic balance and stability.
The Medium-Term Budgetary Framework (MTBF), the Medium-Term Expenditure Frameworks (MTEF), the report on the macroeconomic situation and the report on the execution of the budget for the current fiscal year, required by the law governing the fiscal regime of the State and other public entities for the holding of the BOD, are likely to enable the Government and Parliament to meet this fundamental requirement for the transparency of public finances. However, for practical reasons, readability and consistency, the Government has taken the option of merging the content of these tools and reports into a single document called the “Medium-Term Economic and Budgetary Programming Document” abbreviated EBPD. The latter includes all the information necessary for a better assessment of the strategic options and budgetary orientations retained for the conduct of the economic and social development policy of the nation over the 2025-2027 period in consistency with the 2030 National Development Strategy.
The 2025-2027 Medium-Term Economic and Budgetary Programming Document (EBPD) falls in line with the holding of the sixth session of the BOD counting for the elaboration of the initial 2025 finance law, of which it defines the contours of budgetary policy and overall projections of resources and expenses.
In 2024, the BOD is being held in a context of uncertainties linked to inflationary tensions at the national and sub-regional levels. Despite this difficult context, the Government remains determined to meet numerous challenges, in particular those linked to the implementation of the 2030 National Development Strategy (NDS30) and the continuation of the Economic and 2024 BUDGETARY ORIENTATION DEBATE 2 Financial Programme (EFP) concluded in 2021 with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and supported by all technical and financial partners.
The EBPD submitted to Parliamentary discussion was adopted by the Government in Cabinet Meeting, in accordance with articles 26 and 28 of the decree of 31 May 2019 to set the State budget calendar. It is structured around four (4) chapters: