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Cameroon optimistic of a 6 per cent economic growth despite dip in oil revenue

Cameroon optimistic of a 6 per cent economic growth despite dip in oil revenue

Cameroon is optimistic that its economy will grow to 6 per cent in 2017 despite an introduction of new taxes meant to compensate for dwindling government revenue mostly from oil.

According to the country’s Finance Minister Alamine Ousmane Mey all indicators point to a growth trajectory this year.

The central African nation last month approved the introduction of 24 taxes that apply to a wide range of goods and services, including second-hand car imports and exports of timber, Mey said in a January 3 interview in the capital, Yaounde. At the same time, the government will boost agriculture by making it easier and cheaper for farmers to buy equipment, pesticides and fertilizers, he said. The economy was forecast to expand by 4.8 percent in 2016, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Cameroon is the world’s fifth-largest cocoa grower and Africa’s third-largest producer of palm oil, while smallholder farmers grow cash crops such as tomatoes for regional export. Agriculture is “an essential element of our economy considering the number of people involved,” Mey said.

Mey said this year’s budget was calculated on an average oil price of $40 per barrel, with income from crude accounting for 25 percent of the 2016 budget. Cameroon produced almost 35 million barrels in 2015, according to the state oil company. Brent crude traded at $55.65 per barrel.

The $29 billion economy hosted leaders of the six countries of the Economic Community of Central African States last month to discuss the impact of the oil slump, which was exacerbated by deadly militant attacks in Cameroon and Chad. Regional growth slowed to 1 percent last year, from 1.5 percent in 2015, according to the Bank of Central African States.

www.minfi.gov.cm

 

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