CEMAC Zone Remains Resilient Despite Negative Impacts Of COVID-19

The economies of countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States, CEMAC “remain resilient despite the new inflation tendencies occasioned by the COVID-19 and the proliferation of variants of the virus.”

This follows  a recent meeting of the monetary policy committee of CEMAC held in Yaounde, Cameroon and presided over by the Governor of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), Chadian national Abbas Tolli.

The CEMAC countries are Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville).

The committee observed that the “economic recovery that started in the last quarter of 2020 should continue through the beginning of 2021 thanks to the dynamism of the agricultural, industrial, merchant service sectors and the resumption of diverse investments.”

Consequently, a growth rate of 1.9 per cent in the gross domestic product (GDP) is envisaged with an increase in inflationary tensions of 2.7 per cent, a reduction in budgetary deficit of 0.4 per cent and a current external deficit of 4.1 per cent. There would also be an increase in external monetary coverage of 65 per cent.

“This growth is due to measures taken by the countries to reduce entry and exit from the national territories with a view to stemming the multiplication of the coronavirus. Inflation is also expected to remain less significant in 2021 and 2022,” the CEMAC monetary policy committee noted.

After an economic study of the risk factors which impact on the monetary stability and the developments observed on the monetary market, as well as macro-economic perspectives of the CEMAC zone, the Monetary Policy Committee decided to maintain the interest on tenders at 3.25 per cent, the marginal loan tax at 5 per cent and finally the tax on the deposit facility at 0 per cent.