The Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, has expressed optimism about Cameroon’s economic growth, stating that it could reach 4.1 percent by the end of this year.
Motaze was speaking at the National Assembly before the Parliamentary Committee on budget and finance.
Acknowledging a slow economic growth in 2022 and 2023, he expressed optimism the economy will stabilize by 2025, and growth will be accelerated to 4.4 percent.
Currently, the inflation rate in the country stands at 7.4 percent, and the Minister of Finance says it will likely remain the same throughout this year and next year.
According to the African Development Bank, Cameroon’s economic growth rate rose from 3.6 percent in 2022 to 3.8 percent in 2023, thanks to the good performance of the forestry and logging sector and the dynamism of the service sector.
On the demand side, growth was driven mainly by private investment. Inflation, which stood at 6.3 percent in 2022, rose to 7.4 percent in 2023, driven by food prices, which rose by 11.1 percent.
The projected growth, which will accelerate in 2025, is thanks to a gradual increase in domestic gas production and higher world commodity prices.
According to the African Development Bank, inflation is projected to fall to 6.3 percent in 2024 and 4.3 percent in 2025 due to the continued tightening of monetary policy by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).
“The budget deficit is projected to further improve to 0.5% in 2024 and 0.2% in 2025, thanks to continued tax reforms and rationalization of public spending,” BEAC said.
“The current account deficit is also projected to improve to 1.9% in 2024 and 1.6% in 2025 as gas exports continue to increase,” it added.
According to the Minister of Finance, the public budget for 2025 might not see much change, compared to that of 2024.
However, the budget is still dependent on the IMF’s validation.
