By Leocadia Bongben
Following the end of the government's triennial economic programme with the International Monetary Fund, IMF, signed in 2005, government has decided to design its own programme.
During a press conference at the Finance Ministry on February 4, attended by the IMF officials, the Finance Minister, Essimi Menye, stated that Cameroon would continue to work with the IMF and other donors.
He said a new programme does not mean severing links with the IMF, adding that the IMF would remain as a guide to orientate the government and give its opinion on economic issues and provide a backing to its economic programme.
The relationship, he stressed, would be that of surveillance with regular consultations and technical assistance.The new economic regime, whose duration has not yet been determined, would be different in that Cameroon would not be linked to the IMF financially, but with the IMF signature it would be able to get finances for its programme.
He said government would define its objectives and key areas and would only need the IMF to accompany the government in the new venture. In line with Article 4 of the IMF statute, there is still a level of cooperation between Cameroon and the IMF, and Cameroon has the right to request for technical assistance in certain domains and remain a partner.
In an earlier statement on the last review of the IMF for Cameroon on January 9, it was observed that much still had to be done to attain the desired level of growth needed to fight poverty.
It was also observed that the challenges for Cameroon are to attain results in the area of public finance, the business climate, the cost of production, ameliorate access to small and medium-size enterprises and ensure follow-up of reforms.
Cameroon, therefore, has to consolidate the results achieved in structural reforms that led to the attainment of the completion point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, HIPC-I whereby her debts were alleviated.
To the POSTNEWSLINE and its team of reporters,
I'm afraid your extemporaneous style of reporting news is becoming a staple. Just a little more effort can do the trick. Before publishing a piece of news, put yourself in the place of readers to be able to note the incompleteness of the article; then you do research again in order to keep the public away from judgmental errors. Reading this article above, one is left with tons of unanswered questions. A good reporter would've asked and search for answers to:
1) When did Cameroon start signing triennial economic programs with IMF?
2) How successful and unsuccessful have these programs been to Cameroon? Any citable proof?
3) Is the government taking an unprecedented move or and why has the government decided to change policy this time around?
4) Has Cameroon ever had an independent economic policy since 1960 and how successful or unsuccessful has that policy been?
5) How would the government finance its new programme? This would've obviously taken you to taxation experts to diagnose the taxation policy of the government so that we get a clear picture of what system is in place.
6) Which are some healthy emerging economies doing what Cameroon wants to do and how shall we compare their respective economic climates? Where is the government drawing her lessons? These and many more questions would've taken you to IMF resident representatives to get their analysis and insight; to experts in the ministry of economy and finance, to get their understanding and views and to other economic experts.
Posted by: Ted | Monday, 09 February 2009 at 10:36 PM