Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has declared in his New Year’s address to the nation that a rise in fuel prices is foreseeable, despite the government’s efforts to stabilise prices at their current level and to preserve the purchasing power of consumers through subsidies, which have been applied since 2008.
This was already announced in July by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which indicated that the Cameroon authorities would pursue fiscal consolidation and the gradual reduction of the fuel subsidy policy from 2023.
The president added that the public treasury’s fuel subsidies reached more than 1.1 billion dollars and about 122.6 million dollars to support the price of domestic gas. These subsidies are denounced by international financial institutions, which consider that they benefit the wealthy social strata more than small households.