Of late, newspapers speculated that the state
treasury has run out of liquidity. This was due to the fact that some
indicators were rife that the state has been unable and or reluctant to
carryout some of its responsibilities, such as payment of bills to
contractors/beneficiaries. Senators and MPs almost staged a show-down for the
non-payment of car loans and micro-project grants. Allegations were also rife
at that construction work at the Kribi Deep Seaport and other giant projects
nationwide had stopped due to government’s inability to make owns contribution
etc. Yet last April 9, 2014, the
Director General of Treasury, Financial and Monetary Cooperation in the
Ministry of Finance, Moh Sylvester debunked allegations that the state treasury
was in liquidity crisis. In a briefing, he told journalists that the Ministry
of Finance has recovered FCFA 673 billion which according to Moh Sylvester
corresponds to more 95% realization. In evaluating the first quarter of the
2014 budgetary year, Moh Sylvester said that the indicators are satisfactory
given that there had been an excess of FCFA 79 billion from the FCFA 594
billion in cash for recovered income.
In a desperate attempt to clear the air on
allegations that the state treasury is in financial hub, Moh Sylvester said
that “we borrow from the national market at below 2% per year. I believe that
there are very limited institutions that can borrow at such a rate per year”.
He however went further to state that the recovery rate is usually at 300%,
reasons why he went further to explain that whenever they ask for FCFA 10
billion, and “banking institutions are ready to give FCFA 30 billion”. Even so,
he added “but we retain only the 10 billion which corresponds to what we want
because it is not about being indebted excessively. Moreover, to continuously
demonstrate our credulity, it should be known that w can make draws on advances
at the level of the Bank of Central African States-Beac. We are often called
upon to draw from the unforeseen margin of FCFA 335 billion. If the state was
in difficulty, it would rather have chosen to go to Beac at an interest of 3%”
he emphasized.
However, since nothing is more respected in
the world of finance than keeping seal lips on figures, the Director General of
Treasury went further to unveil state expenditure for the first quarter of the
budgetary year which rounded off on March 31, 2014.
Harping on the total expenditure, including
FCFA 632 billion for the payment of salaries, payment of bills for
beneficiaries and other state expenses, Moh Sylvester disclosed that there is
absolutely nothing to worry about given that FCFA 560 billion was projected. Yet
allegations abound that Cameroon is currently witnessing acute shortage of
banknotes. A school of thought holds that the Bank of Central African
States-BEAC has a hand in the liquidity crisis in the Country. However, public
opinion is looking towards the state vuvuzela, Isa Tchiroma Bakary to clear
public opinion on the current financial situation in Cameroon given that both
the Minister of Finance Ousman Mey and Moh Sylvester are seeming afraid of
speaking the truth. It is even alleged that the prices of fuel will soon move
to 700 FCFA per litre. This has ignited another public debate on whether it is
not FMI pressurizing government or it had rejected state subvention or plans to
do so.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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