REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Paix-Travail-Patrie
MINISTERE DES FINANCES
REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Peace-Work-Fatherland
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
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# GOVERNMENT'S FISCAL AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT MEASURES IN THE FACE OF THE COVID-19 CRISIS
11th SESSION OF THE CAMEROON BUSINESS FORUM (CBF-11)
THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER 2020
The Minister of Finance Louis Paul MOTAZE
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, Honourable Members of the Government, Representatives of Technical and Financial Partners, Representatives of the Private Sector, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Within the framework of these deliberations, the Ministry of Finance is expected to present government's support measures in fiscal and financial terms in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.
It should be noted that the support measures proposed by my ministry are aligned with the response strategy to the Covid-19 and economic and social resilience, put in place by the Government, from the start of the pandemic. This strategy, amounting to nearly 480 billion over the 2020-2022 period, is broken down into five main pillars, namely: (i) strengthening of the health system; (ii) economic and financial resilience; (iii) strategic sourcing; (iv) strengthening research and innovation, and (v) social resilience.
For the year 2020, the implementation of this strategy has helped to structure Ordinance No.2020/001 of 03 June 2020, to amend and supplement certain provisions of Law No. 2019/023 of 24 December 2019, on the Finance Law of the Republic of Cameroon for fiscal year 2020, through the establishment of a Special Allocation Account (COVID-19 SAA). This account entitled "Special National Solidarity Fund for the Fight against the Coronavirus and its Economic and Social Repercussions" amounts to a total of CFA 180 billion francs, for the fight against the Coronavirus and its economic and social repercussions.
The COVID-19 special allocation account should help achieve the objectives set out in the strategy by covering (i) health expenses related to the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic in Cameroon; (ii) the State social support expenditure for vulnerable personnel affected by the health crisis due to Covid-19; (iii) State financial assistance to enterprises in the sectors of activity affected by the pandemic; and (iv) funding for research and innovation in the fight against the Coronavirus.
As can be seen, the overall government support strategy is therefore a multidimensional and multi-sector strategy.
With regard to support to enterprises specifically, within the framework of the implementation of the "Economic and financial resilience" pillar, 72.7 billion have been directed towards strengthening the resilience of enterprises through Decree No. 2020/3221/PM to fix the distribution of the allocation of the said SAA.
However, it is clear that the measures taken so far by the Government are essentially immediate measures of resilience and rescue in the face of the consequences of the pandemic. As the control of the crisis is subject to many uncertainties, it is therefore important to strengthen the effectiveness of the measures already taken in order to revive economic activity in order to find the growth path compatible with our development objectives.