Frequently Asked Questions on Cameroon

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The IMF is providing policy advice and financing to support the government’s program to achieve a rapid post-pandemic recovery, strengthen macroeconomic stability, and implement structural reforms to achieve more inclusive and diversified growth.
The new three-year arrangements under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) amount to SDR 483 million (about US$ 689.5 million, or 175 percent of Cameroon’s quota).
The IMF Executive Board approved the program on July 29, 2021, which makes available the first disbursement of $177.2 million.
Subsequent disbursements are subject to review, which are scheduled, at most, six months apart; these reviews assess the government’s progress in implementing its economic reforms.

Central aim: avoid a sudden contraction in the spending needed to fight the pandemic and, once the crisis abates, decisively implement measures to increase non-oil revenue and resume fiscal consolidation.
Accelerate structural reforms to achieve economic diversification, gender equality, financial sector stability and inclusion, and a greener economy.
The program is organized around five pillars to help achieve sustained, more inclusive and diversified growth, and to catalyze private investment and donor financial support.
The program will seek to:
- mitigate the health, economic, and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring macroeconomic stability;
- reinforce good governance, and strengthen transparency and anti-corruption efforts;
- accelerate structural fiscal reforms to modernize tax and customs administrations, mobilize revenue, improve public financial management, increase investment efficiency, and reduce fiscal risks from state-owned enterprises;
- strengthen debt management and reduce debt vulnerabilities;
- implement structural reforms to accelerate private sector-led economic diversification and boost financial sector resilience.

Promoting good governance is an essential part of the IMF’s engagement with the Cameroonian authorities.
Emergency financing provided under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) in 2020 helped Cameroon meet emergency financing needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic; emergency financing is not subject to conditions like other IMF programs.
To ensure emergency financing supports the pandemic response and to strengthen transparency, the IMF often requests audits of COVID-19-related spending.
In Cameroon, the IMF requested:
- an audit by the Supreme Court’s Audit Bench and its submission to IMF staff, the Prime Minister, the Senate and the National Assembly;
- the publication of COVID-19 procurement information, including beneficial ownership;
- the publication of a report on COVID-19-related expenditures.

The IMF required that the three conditions listed above were met before approval of the new ECF-EFF program.
The program aims to help Cameroon further strengthen accountability and support anti-corruption efforts by enhancing the legal and institutional frameworks needed to produce publicly-disclosed audits.
The IMF is working with the authorities on a new capacity development tool aimed at building the institutional capacity of Supreme Audit Institutions such as the country’s Audit Bench.
Public availability of the Audit Bench report is intended to support effective follow-up by appropriate institutions in Cameroon, including addressing shortcomings in control and oversight and actions to further investigate and sanction administrative and criminal violations.
Going forward, surveillance missions, program reviews, and technical assistance by the IMF will help strengthen governance, transparency, and accountability; IMF staff will continue to engage with the authorities and all stakeholders to promote good governance and anti-corruption.