The parliament is currently debating a Bill seeking to raise the Cameroon’s debt ceiling as the country is seeking to boost the construction of critical infrastructure.
Members of the Finance and Budget Committee of the National Assembly began scrutinising the Bill in Yaoundé.
The country’s debt level currently stands at 30 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which according to the Finance minister, Mr Alamine Ousmane Mey, “is sustainable”.
Mey said the move to raise the debt level was to enable the government undertake some of the projects in it’s development plan.
The Central African nation was seeking to raise the ceiling of non-concessional borrowing from $854 million (FCFA 500bn) lion to $2,050 million (FCFA 1,200bn), while concessional loans remains at $854 million (FCFA 500bn).
“We have made analysis in terms of viability and sustainability and these are all okay, and we want to continue. This is the mission we have at the Ministry of Finance through our National Debt Commission,” Mey said.
Contrary to popular opinion that the Bill would overburden future generations, the Finance minister said it was important that the debt level was kept under control “so that future generations should be able to take advantage of the investments we are making today”.
Should the National Assembly vet the Bill, it will go through a second scrutiny at the Senate before President Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon since 1982, signs it into law.
Read more: Africa Review
