Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) – The government on November 17, 2011 at the National Assembly , tabled FCFA 2,800 billion as the draft State budget of Cameroon for the 2012 financial year that registers an increase of FCFA 229 billion compared to FCFA 2,271 billion in 2011.
The draft budget members of the National Assembly will examine and adopt in the remaining 13 days of the ongoing November 2011 budgetary session of the House, will be the first to be used in implementing President Paul Biya’s announced major accomplishments vision for the country in just started new seven-year term of office.
Prime Minister Philemon Yang will Friday, November 18, 2011 in the National Assembly, present government’s economic, financial, social and cultural programme for financial year 2012.
The eventually adopted budget will be used to finance the programme.
Government plans to raise domestic resources amounting to FCFA 2,280 billion for the draft budget compared to FCFA 2,114 in 2011.
The explanatory statement to the 2012 finance bill that contains the draft budget, indicates that FCFA 1,723 billion will come from the non-oil revenue, FCFA 557 billion from oil revenue and FCFA 250 billion from bond loans.
The FCFA 249 billion targeted as revenue from external resources, will comprise of FCFA 183 billion from loans and FCFA 66 billion from grants.
Government plans to use FCFA 1,720 billion of the draft budget as recurrent expenditure, FCFA 559 billion on goods and services, FCFA 170 billion on transfers and subventions, FCFA 792 billion as capital expenditure and FCFA 287 billion on debt servicing.
The explanatory statement to the bill states that priority in executing the draft budget will be given to the fight against poverty and high cost of living by continuing to subsidise the pump price of petroleum products.
Government also intends to give greater allocation to investment resources in growth-enhancing sectors, in particular; energy, agriculture, infrastructure and mining, as well as the training of youths and support to small enterprises.
It is just a starting point because the seven years to come will be years of intense activity aimed at giving Cameroon a new face. Many more developmental projects are still to come and more money will be needed.