(Business in Cameroon) - In 2016, Cameroon's debt will increase by FCfa 1,055 billion. This is what the 2016 Finance bill, which is currently under review at parliament, reveals in addition to a global budget of FCfa 4,234.7 billion, at last balanced between revenue and expenditure (this is different from the FCfa 4,249.8 billion previously announced during a cabinet meeting at the end of October).

After further analysis, 25% of the 2016 budget will come from loans, including FCfa 505 billion to be provided by different international lenders, FCfa 250 billion to raise on the local banking market and FCfa 300 billion as public bonds to issue.

In total, the banks, which are also the only approved Spécialistes en Valeur du Trésor (SVT-Specialists in Treasury Securities) in the country and as a consequence the only institutions allowed to raise funds during issuance of public bonds, will pay approximately FCfa 550 billion to the public Treasury of Cameroon in 2016. This corresponds to 12.% of the country's global budget.

Though this appeal to the banks by the State will contribute towards making the credit portfolio of banking institutions more substantial in general, it could however according to some analysts, make it a bit more difficult for the private sector to access bank funding; due to banks usually having more confidence in the State than in SMEs.