(Business in Cameroon) - In the framework of its liquidity-injection operations, the BEAC provided CFAF16.6 billion of liquidity to credit institutions operating in the community space, down from CFAF40 billion the previous month.  

According to the BEAC’s monthly statistics bulletin, 20% of the liquidity provided was captured by banks operating in Cameroon. Nevertheless, the liquidity needs of the Cameroonian banking market drastically dropped month-on-month from CFAF9.7 billion in January 2020 to CFAF4.1 billion in February 2020.

Equatorial Guinean and Chadian banks outperformed their Cameroonian counterparts, capturing a total of CFAF12.4 billion of the liquidity provided by the Beac, with CFAF6.2 billion going to banking institutions in each country. This compares to CFAF 15.4 and 14.6 billion respectively one month earlier.

This is due to the tightening of monetary policy observed at the beginning of the year. Indeed, in addition to reducing its liquidity injections, the Central Bank launched a liquidity-absorbing operation on February 13, 2020. During the period under review, three liquidity-absorbing operations, for a single amount of CFAF 50 billion, were organized. Seven credit institutions participated in these first three operations, for an average monthly outstanding amount of CFAF 15.6 billion: Cameroon (CFAF 2.1 billion), Congo (CFAF 6.4 billion), Gabon (CFAF 6.8 billion), Central African Republic (CFAF 241 million).

But the Beac subsequently relaxed its monetary policy at the end of March 2020 to help CEMAC economies cope with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

BRM & SA