Fiscal Policy: Experts Seek To Reduce Stress

The fifth African Fiscal Forum ends in Yaounde today with proposals expected  for countries to mobilise resources efficiently and spend better.

“Fiscal Policy Under Stress.” This is a reflection of the economic challenges African countries find self in. The sharp fall in commodity prices coupled with insecurity, Cameroon’s Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey say, are enemies of progress acting as blockages to the growth of economies. He stated while opening the fifth African Fiscal Forum on the theme, “Fiscal Policy Under Stress,” that budgetary resources have become scarce due to the double shocks countries of the continent are facing. The note-sharing February 7-8 meeting is organised by the Ministry of Finance in partnership with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.
Cameroon’s economic performance is expected to stay resilient with growth rate estimated at 6 per cent in 2017 up from 5.3 per cent in 2016. The good performance of Cameroon, however, sharply contrasts with that of the economies of other countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa which plummeted over the years owing to their near-total dependence on crude oil whose prices have been dropping on the world market. This notwithstanding, Finance Minister strongly holds that, “we will find answers to our problem today, if we have that fighting spirit,” making allusion to the Indomitable Lions. He said collecting more resources and spending them better was an efficient way out. The European Union, Head of Delegation to Cameroon, Ambassador Françoise Collet, was on the same wavelength, stressing that, “We are against not investing, we are not for reducing social expenditure, but we are for the better use of resources like should be the case everywhere in the world.” She argued that fiscal stress could be r...