(Business in Cameroon) - The gross external assets of CEMAC area declined by 3.4% in July this year. This was revealed in a report published by the Bank of Central African Sates (BEAC).

According to the document, the stock of foreign exchange reserves stood at CFA3,069 billion at the end of April 2018, equating to only 2.5 months of imports, below the minimum required threshold of 3 months. Though below the required level, the forex reserves however improved since the Beac Monetary Policy Committee adopted measures to consolidate the reserve situation, during an extraordinary session on May 22 2017.

Let’s note that during the period under review, the net external assets of the monetary system deteriorated for 5 of the 6 CEMAC countries: Cameroon (from CFA1,970.1 billion  to CFA1,952.7 billion), Central African Republic (from CFA103.7 billion to CFA91.4 billion), the Congo (from CFA213.3 billion to CFA155.3 billion), Gabon (from CFA549.9 billion to CFA506.7 billion) and Equatorial Guinea (from CFA74.6 billion to CFA-8 billion). On the contrary, Chad recorded an improvement from CFA-299.4 billion to CFA-252.4 billion.

Sylvain Andzongo