25% of 2013 state budget went into food imports - Report

According to statistics posted on 15th September 2014 by the Technical Committee of national balance of payments, Cameroon imported 2110 tons of consumer products (cereals, fish, oils, sugar, drinks, etc.) in 2013 amounting to 762 billion Cfa francs, which, compared to the year 2012, corresponds to an increase of 62 tons in terms of quantity, or 52.3 billion francs Cfa.

This massive imports of consumer products, contribute the most in digging the balance of payments deficit of Cameroon, according to Lazare Bela, the Director of Economic Affairs (DAE) at the Ministry of finance, equivalent to more than 25% of the budget 2013 of the State of Cameroon, which was 3,236 billion francs Cfa.

Next to these significant imports of consumer products increase, all imports on Cameroon in 2013 had a slight decrease (1.2%) from 2012, lying at 3,285 billion francs Cfa.

At the origin of this slight decline, says the Committee, is the fall in imports of clinker, then crude oil and fuels and lubricants oils, causing, respectively, financial difficulties on the single refinery of the country, and the reluctance of marquetarians more and more reluctant to import finished petroleum products, due to a big slate not yet offset by the Government.