IMF lauds Cameroon’s budgetary stability, return to modest growth.

This was during a working session with officials of the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, MINEPAT. The IMF team is led by Christine Dieterich.

Dieterich told reporters after the meeting that discussions were technical and pragmatic, focusing on broader macroeconomic issues. She said stability of fiscal policy propped up as a major success story for the government. 

Dieterich noted that budget stability and coherent fiscal policy by the government serve as a buffer for other economies in the entire Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC, where, the IMF says Cameroon stands as undisputed leader.

She reiterated that government’s ability to maintain stability by controlling deficit and excessive accumulation of debt does not shield the country or eliminate other challenges facing the government.

The IMF team warned that in order for things to improve so that Cameroon makes economic progress, it will be essential for government to find the right balance between social or basic needs of the population and infrastructure needs that are capital intensive. 

Dieterich stressed that the underlying concern of the IMF is how government reconciles social spending to support the vulnerable population with substantial investments, particularly in the construction of road, provision of energy, telecommunications, without upsetting the budget balance.

Meeting with private sector operators

The IMF head of delegation also told reporters that they had a meeting with local economic operators in Douala. For two days, Dieterich said the delegation met with operators in the telecommunications sector, which sector she said, requires enormous investments, if the country’s potential has to be fully exploited.

“The message is clear: future growth will depend largely on the ability to mobilize capital, both local and private, in productive sectors,” Dieterich stated, insisting that government needs to reconcile investment and social needs, with the necessity of pursuing a stable and sustainable fiscal policy. 

She said though stability is essential to strengthen economic growth, creating jobs that absorb the teeming idle population would guarantee the wellbeing of citizens, which is more important for long term sustainable growth. 

The mission head also hinted on medium term growth prospects arising from the implementation of the 2020-2030 National Development Strategy document, SND30. 

Dieterich disclosed that the IMF team also met with members of the SND30 Technical Monitoring Committee, TMC. 

She said discussions focused on reviewing the objectives, analysing data from government departments, and assessing how schedules for sectoral meetings were respected and tangible results achieved. 

Dieterich expressed satisfaction with the collaboration the IMF team received from different government officials. She said representatives from several financial institutions, tax, and statistical agencies participated in many of their meetings alongside representatives from regional institutions.

Revenue forecast for 2025-2028

In the area of long-term revenue generation and monetary management, the mission met with officials of the Bank of Central African States, BEAC. 

Here, the visitors asked questions and received answers concerning monetary supply and control of inflation; level of foreign exchange reserves, and the role the central bank plays in overall financing of Cameroon´s economy. 

The mission also examined the functioning of the regional government´s security market and how BEAC finances the economies of other member States of the sub-region.

Such issues, the IMF team said, are linked to government´s medium term debt management policy. The visitors also scrutinized the current state budget, examined projections on tax and non-tax anticipated revenues for the period 2025-2028, trends in public spending and deficit control, as well as the status of expenditures executed under exceptional procedures, among other matters. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3693 of Wednesday February 04, 2026