(Business in Cameroon) - In preparation for the 33rd session of the Council of Ministers of the Central African Economic Union (UEAC), country experts of the CEMAC Interstate Committee met three days as of October 17 at the International Conference Center in Sipopo, Equatorial Guinea.

During the workshop, the Vice-President of the CEMAC Commission Fatima Haram Acyl said “the issue of community financing has become alarming, despite all corrective initiatives”.

Indeed, she pointed out, the persistence of distortions in the Community Integration Tax (CIT) mechanism is at the root of worrying cash flow tensions, the accumulation of large arrears and serious difficulties in carrying out the activities of the Community institutions.

 “Of  the current CIT recovery rate forecast for 2018, only 15% at the end of August, provides precise information on the seriousness of the problem”, Fatima Haram Acyl added. This is a call out to the experts of the Inter-State Committee, which should lead to strong proposals to boost the functioning and actions of the CEMAC Commission, with President Daniel Ona Ondo acting as main driver.

The CIT payment in CEMAC corresponds to 1% of imports from third countries. But this tax is ignored by the six Member States of the Community.

S.A