(Business in Cameroon) - Cameroon made last June 5 the issuance of 7-year fungible Treasury bonds (OTAs) on the Beac public securities market aiming at raising CFA20 billion, the market timetable showed.

The move was motivated by the success of the May 31 issuance when the country raised CFA15 billion with 13-week treasury bills; after consecutive failures on the market since the beginning of the year. On that same day, Cameroon also made two cumulative repayments totaling CFA63.4 billion.

Many market observers believe this new operation could help the Cameroonian Treasury recapture part of the money it recently repaid. But success is not guaranteed, especially as the central bank has been tightening market conditions since the end of 2022.

Indeed, to address the soaring inflation in the Cemac zone, the central bank has implemented successive increases in its key rates and has also increased liquidity withdrawing from commercial banks, which act as primary dealers on the securities market. Despite this situation, Cameroon has never defaulted on the market. As evidence, the Cameroonian Treasury has successfully repaid over CFA3,000 billion in loans without any defaults since the market's launch in 2011, according to the Ministry of Finance.