(Business in Cameroon) - The volume of banking credit approved within the Cemac region fell from CFA2,043.04 billion in Q3 2021 to CFA1,769.95 billion in Q3 2022, the Bank of Central African States (Beac) revealed.

According to the central bank, this 13% drop in the volume of bank loans reflects "the adverse effects of the international situation on Cemac economies”. “The Russian-Ukraine war caused a rise in commodity prices and a disruption of supply channels. As a result, CEMAC continues to experience inflationary pressures and, therefore, a tightening of monetary conditions during the third quarter of 2022," Beac said.

The tightening of monetary conditions, which Beac did by increasing its two main interest rates in the first and third quarters of 2022, led to a 45-point increase in the rates charged by Cemac banks. In detail, these rates rose from 10.29% in September 2021 to 10.75% one year later. The bill was even more expensive quarter-on-quarter. "Between the second and third quarters of 2022, the rates went from 9.99% to 10.75%, up 76 points,” we learn.

BRM