(Business in Cameroon) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its report on “Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa” published this month of May 2017, notes that many countries, in 2016, suffered from the sharp fall in commodity prices.

“This is particularly the case for countries exporting commodities, particularly oil exporting countries, such as Angola, Nigeria and the countries in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC)”, indicates the IMF. According to this report, the delays observed in the execution of necessary adjustments lead to an increase in the public debt, create uncertainty, restrict investments and could possibly generate even more important problems in the future.

“For the most affected countries, it is still urgent to clean up the public finance sector to put an end to the decrease in foreign exchange reserves and offset losses in budget revenues, especially in the CEMAC countries”, repeats the IMF. The insistence of this global financial institution is in direct line with the alarm raised in April by Kadima Kalondji, Resident Representative of the IMF in Cameroon.

In 2010, while visiting Libreville in the framework of a seminar addressed to media professionals in the sub-region, Kadima Kalondji assured that the community’s foreign exchange reserves were FCfa 6,000 billion. But these reserves have since dropped to FCfa 2,000 billion, therefore an erosion of FCfa 4,000 billion in 2016.

The Representative of the IMF then pointed an accusing finger at the fall in revenues and oil exports as well as the explosion in public investment expenditure in a difficult and unfavourable financial environment for oil-based economies.

S.A