REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN Pax-Travail-Patrie SERVICES DU PREMIER MINISTRE SECRETARIAT GENERAL REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Peace-Work-Fatherland PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE SECRETARIAT GENERAL
# PRESS RELEASE
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, His Excellency Joseph DION NGUTE, today Thursday 2 July 2020 at 10 a.m. in the auditorium of the Prime Minister’s Office, chaired a special Cabinet meeting devoted to the examination of the Medium-Term Economic and Budget Programming Paper for the 2021-2023 period, as a prelude to the Budgetary Orientation Debate to be held in Parliament in the days ahead.
Ministers of State, Ministers and Ministers Delegate took part in this Meeting, whose sole item on the agenda was the statement by the Minister of Finance on the guidelines of the Economic and Budgetary Programming Document for the 2021-2023 period.
Taking the floor after the introductory statement by the Head of Government, the Minister of Finance recalled that the budget orientation debate, provided for by the law of 11 July 2018 on the financial regime of the State and other public entities, is aimed at enabling Parliament and the Government to better contribute to the definition of the macroeconomic and budgetary framework, which underpins the drafting of the State finance law.
With specific reference to the Economic and Budget Programming Paper for 2021-2023, the Minister of Finance indicated that it had been drawn up in a context marked by a significant contraction in economic activity worldwide, due to the health crisis linked to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the Response Plan implemented by the Government, under the impetus of the Head of State, has made it possible to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of this crisis and to define the conditions for economic recovery.
From this perspective, public action for the period 2021-2023 will focus on (i) controlling the health situation and mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; (ii) continuing to implement the recommendations of the Major National Dialogue, in particular the reconstruction of the Northwest and Southwest Regions; (iii) accelerating the decentralization process; (iv) the gradual deployment of Universal Health Coverage; (v) the maintenance of security surveillance throughout the national territory; and (vi) the finalization of major first-generation projects, in particular those relating to the Three-Year
Emergency Plan for Economic Growth, the Three-Year Special Youth Plan and the organization of CHAN 2021 and AFCON 2022.
Continuing his remarks, the Minister of Finance stressed that, in view of the decline in public revenue, the State's economic and financial prospects for the 2021-2023 period are mainly based on the "import-substitution" policy, through the reduction or gradual abolition of exemptions on certain products that burden the balance of trade, so as to promote local production on a larger scale. In addition, various types of facilities will be granted to national producers to promote the "made in Cameroon" label, and emphasis will be laid on improving the profitability and competitiveness of public enterprises.