Ordinance to readjust state budget: Gov´t slashes fuel, mission allowances…by over 80 billion FCFA.

The move is contained in Ordinance N°. 2024/001 of June 20, 2024, signed by the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, revising certain provisions of the December 19, 2023, Finance Law.

In a draft amendment proposal sent to Parliament for scrutiny and approval, President Biya indicated that the largest cuts will be in services spending, which will decrease by not less than 75.8 billion FCFA. 

That is from 563.6 billion FCFA in the initial budget to 487.8 billion FCFA, if the amendment passes through Parliament. 

However, observers say this is a formality because the amendment will surely pass through given the crushing majority that the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, enjoys in both the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament.

President Biya also specified that in this category of state expenditures, spending on "other services" will be reduced by 70.9 billion FCFA, while "transport and mission expenses" for state personnel will decrease by nearly two billion FCFA. Additionally, "personnel training expenses" will be cut by 1.1 billion FCFA, "maintenance expenses" by 942 million FCFA, "public relations and communication expenses" by over 620 million FCFA, and "rental expenses" by 51.5 million FCFA.

On the same vein, for goods purchases, the budget will be reduced by 4.4 billion FCFA from the initial 312.1 billion FCFA. 

In addition, the Head of State, in the proposed amendment bill, indicated that the government plans to save 2.5 billion FCFA on "materials and supplies" reducing this budget from 91.9 billion FCFA to 89.4 billion FCFA.

Of equal significance was the provision that showed that spending on basic utilities like water, electricity, gas, and other energy sources will be cut by 1.5 billion FCFA, bringing this budget down to 71.3 billion FCFA from 72.8 billion FCFA. There is also a planned reduction of 360.4 million FCFA for "specific equipment and supplies".

Worries over rising State spending

Meanwhile, top officials concerned with working to cut down state expenditure indicate that these budget cuts are in line with President Biya's instructions to budget actors to "rationalise public operating expenses," as stated in a letter from Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Secretary General at the Presidency, to the Prime Minister's Office, and copied to the Secretary General at the PM´s Office, Magloire Séraphin Fouda, on January 4, 2024.

"Following the President's address to the nation on December 31, 2023, and his previous directives, I reiterate his high instructions for department heads and credit managers of all public entities to substantially limit the creation of committees/workgroups and related expenses, foreign missions, as well as the purchase of official vehicles and fuel expenses," Ngoh Ngoh wrote.

These instructions respond to widespread criticisms of the state's high spending in a country seeking funds for development projects and battling endemic poverty, the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic added.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3150 of Wednesday June 26, 2024