Cameroon’s GDP: CEMAC Forecasts Drop To 3.8 Per Cent

The outfit has recommended gradual, orderly and sustainable budget readjustment in order for Cameroon to achieve a 4.2 per cent growth rate in 2018.

The Multilateral Surveillance Mission of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) has rounded off an eleven-day bi-annual evaluation visit to Cameroon. The officials led by   CEMAC Commissioner’s Chief of Cabinet in charge of Economic, Monetary and Financial Policies and Director of Multilateral Surveillance, Nguemeni Jean-Claude, ended their work in Yaounde, Saturday July 22, 2017.

According to Nguemeni, the economic growth rate in the country stood at 4.7 per cent in 2016 as against 5.8 per cent in 2015 and 5.9 per cent in 2014. The CEMAC Commission blamed the sustained fall in economic growth rate on the drop in oil prices as well as the fall in global commodity prices. The situation is said to have been complicated by security menace and socio-political instability in the North West and South West Regions, coupled with the influx of refugees from neighbouring countries. There were also constraints on Cameroon’s budget following preparations to host the 2016 Women AFCON, amongst others; issues which have forced the country’s growth rate to decline to 3.8 per cent as indicated by CEMAC experts.

Despite the economic shocks, the CEMAC Commission forecasts an economic resurgence in 2018 with a growth rate of 4.2 per cent. In order to achieve this, Cameroon has been called upon to carry out gradual, orderly and sustainable budget readjustment as well as reinforce regional integration. “With a population growth rate of 2.5 per cent, there is need for an average economic growth rate of 8 per cent to 10 per cent in order to attend emergence. Such growth also has to be strong and inclusive,” of...