(Business in Cameroon) - On June 7, 2021, President Paul Biya signed an ordinance increasing the 2021 budget by XAF615.2 billion (11.22%).  “For the 2021 State budget, a balance between resources and jobs has been achieved at XAF5,480.4 billion [against XAF4,865.2 billion previously approved by the parliament]. It includes XAF5,235.2 billion of the general state budget and XAF245.2 billion for special purpose accounts,” the ordinance informs.

The general state budget constituted of revenues, social contributions, loans, and donations, is up by XAF565.2 billion. From the XAF4,670 billion adopted by parliament, it is now XAF5,235.2 billion.

As for the budget of special purpose accounts that includes funds set for specific purposes (like the fight against the coronavirus, electricity access improvement, water, and sanitation, etc…), it is up by XAF50 billion, going from XAF195.2 billion to XAF245.2 billion. This increase is mostly due to the rise in funds set for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallouts (from XAF150 billion to XAF200 billion).

According to the Ministry of Finance, the aim of this budget amendment decided by the President of the Republic is to align the revenue forecasts with the various public expenditures caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This for instance explains the increase of the envelope dedicated to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic this year but also the revenue collection target set XAF74.2 billion higher (from XAF3,456.6 billion to XAF3,530.8 billion) than the one in the initially approved budget.

Let’s note that the effectiveness of this new budget is subject to the parliament’s adoption but given the political configuration of this institution, the adoption will surely be a mere formality.

Sylvain Andzongo