Presentation to the Finance and Budget Committee of the National Assembly of the Draft ...

Madam Chairperson Of The Finance And Budget Committee,

Honorable Members Of The Commission,

Ladies And Gentlemen,

It Is Always With Great Pleasure That The Government Subscribes To The Reporting Obligation Prescribed By Law, Relating To The Execution Of The Finance Law Of The Past Year.

I Would Like To Take This Opportunity To Express My Sincere Thanks To Madam President, As Well As To All The Honorable Members, Members Of The Finance And Budget Committee, For The Very Warm Welcome Given To The Government Delegation Here Present, As Well As To The Collaborators Who Accompany Us On Occasion.

Please Find In These Words Of Thanks, Madam President , The Equally Sincere Expression Of Our Gratitude For The Pleasant Climate Which Surrounds The Debates In Which We Have Always Taken Part Under Your Presidency, As Well As For The Quality Of The Exchanges Carried Out With You At Within This Auguste Commission. Finally, I Would Like To Point Out Here The Relevance Of Your Various Proposals Which Undoubtedly Contribute To Improving The Action Taken By The Government In The Field Of Public Finance. We Thank You Again.

Madame President,

Honorable Commissioners ,

As You Know, The Exercise That Brings Us Together Today Allows The Government To Discuss With The National Representation On The Way In Which The State Budget Was Implemented During The Past Fiscal Year.

In This Regard, This Session Is An Opportunity For Us To Present To You The Draft Bylaw Counting For The Year 2104, Which Is Subject To The Sanction Of Your Auguste Chamber.

As You Are Certainly Aware, This Draft Budget Law Traces The Budgetary Execution Of The Second Consecutive Year During Which The State Budget Is Executed In Program Mode, In Accordance With Law No. 2007/006 Of December 26, 2007 On The State's Financial Regime.

This Reform Allows This Year To Review, The 162 Programs Opened By The 2014 Finance Law, And Executed With The Sole Aim Of Achieving The Public Policies Defined By The President Of The Republic, HE Mr. Paul BIYA , Public Policies That S '' Are Part Of Our Country's March Towards Economic Emergence By 2035.

The Presentation Of The Draft Settlement Law In This Context Of Reform, Therefore Inevitably Becomes A Moment Of Evaluation Of The Effectiveness And The Efficiency Of The Policies Implemented By The Government.

Thanks To The New Paradigm Of Results-based Management, Which Is Today Set Up In Public Management Mode, It Would Be Advisable To See Beyond The Figures Which Will Be Presented To You, The Government Which Comes To Offer To The Whole Nation, More Visibility And Legibility In The Implementation Of Public Policies, Which Essentially Aim To Improve The Well-being Of Populations.

We Are Convinced That The Debates Which Will Follow, Will Contribute To Consolidate This Desire For Transparency Clearly Expressed By The Government, And Will Allow The Cameroonian People Whom You Represent, To Appreciate At Their True Value, The Efforts Led By The Government In The Achievement Of The Expected Results Under The Implementation Of The 2014 State Budget Cash. These Efforts Will Continue In Order To Achieve The Objectives Of This Important Reform.

Madame President,

Honorable Commissioners ,

The 2014 Finance Law Opened The Commitment Authorizations For A Total Amount Of FCFA 3,452,372,000,000 and Payment Credits For The Sum Of FCFA 3,312,000,000,000 .

This Is The Place To Point Out That The Present Budget Regulation Bill 2014 Was Executed In An Economic Environment Marked By Weaker Than Expected Global Growth And A Fall In Raw Material Prices. Security Challenges Have Also Focused Government Action.

However, The Sharp Increase In Public Investment In Infrastructure, The Increase In Agricultural Production As Well As The Development Of Services In The Fields Of Trade, Telecommunications, Transport And Finance Have Boosted The Growth Of African Countries.

At The Sub-regional Level, With The Resumption Of Oil Production And The Continued Implementation Of Public Investment Projects In Most Of The CEMAC Countries, GDP Growth Resumed In 2014 To Stand At 4.6 %.

At The National Level, The Cameroonian Economy Has Shown Resilience In A Regional Environment Marked By Security And Humanitarian Crises At The Northern Borders With Nigeria And The East With The Central African Republic; it Remained Sustained This Growth In 2014 At 5.9%.

The Growth Recorded By Cameroon In 2014 Was Supported By Domestic Demand, Which Itself Benefited From The Dynamism Of Final Consumption. Conversely, foreign Demand weighed On This Growth, With A More Than Proportional Increase In Imports Of Goods And Services, 6.0% compared To Exports, Or 2.7% .

Regarding Inflation, The Increase In Household Final Consumer Prices Decelerates From + 2.1% In 2013 To + 1.9% In 2014. This Deceleration Is Perceptible At All The Main Consumption Items, Except "Transport" (+5.8 Points) And "Restaurants And Hotels" (+1.7 Points).

In 2014, The Trade Balance Showed A Deficit Of 1 187.3 Billion And Deteriorated By 132.9 Billion Compared To 2013. However, The Rate Of Coverage Of Imports By Exports Improved And Stood At 68.3% Compared To 67.9% In 2013.

It Is In This Briefly Described Context That The 2014 Budget Was Implemented. In Its Large Masses, The Receipts Are Recorded at FCFA 3,384,712,924,408 and The Expenses At FCFA 3,277,297,620,024 , Hence A Surplus Budgetary Balance of FCFA 107,403,383,502 .

Regarding Fiscal Performance In Revenue, Subject To Article 1 ^st Bill Regulation, It Is Noted As Above-noted,collections For A Total Amount Of FCFA 3,384,712,924,408, Representing An Execution Rate Of 102.20%.

Graph 1  : Distribution Of Budgetary Revenue

• borrowings And Donations For An Amount Of FCFA 469,276,812,938 Based On Forecasts Of FCFA 609,000,000,000, Representing A Completion Rate Of 77.06%.

In Their Sub-structuring, Own Revenue Consists Of Tax Revenue And Other Revenue, Whose Receipts Were Respectively 111.17% And 100.33%.

Chart 2  : Breakdown Of Own Revenue

Loans And Grants, The Second Component Of Own Revenue, Stand At FCFA 469,276,812,938 Based On Forecasts Of FCFA 609,000,000,000, Representing An Execution Rate Of 77.06%.

Chart 3  : Structure Of Loans And Grants

Graph 4  : Total Distribution Of Expenditure

This Triple Presentation Has The Merit Of Allowing An Analysis Of Budget Execution From At Least Two Angles: the Classic Angle Of Means And The Angle Of Performance In The Implementation Of Public Policies.

The Breakdown Of Expenditure According To The Means Approach Presents:

• the Operating Budget Adopted At FCFA 2,011,957,900,000 , Or 60.7 % Of The Overall Envelope;

• the Public Investment Budget Adopted At FCFA 997,242 100,000 , Or 30.12 % Of The Overall Envelope;

• the Public Debt Forecast At FCFA 302,800,000,000 , Or 9.19% of The Overall Envelope.

At The Execution Level, The Operating Budget Was Made Up To FCFA 2,067,569,854,276 , Representing An Execution Rate Of 102.76%.

Graph 5  : Distribution Of The Operating Budget

Chart 6  : Share Of Each Type Of Asset In The Investment Budget

Chart 7  : Distribution Of Debt Service

In Addition To The Actual Execution Of The Budget, The 2014 Draft Budget Law Includes Six (06) Appendices Having Regard To The Requirements Of Law N ° 2007/006 Of December 26, 2007 Relating To The State Financial Regime. These Include The Annexes Relating To: 

• the Differences Between Forecasted Revenue And Collections By Type Of Revenue (Annex 1);

• changes Between Allocations, Payment Credit Orders, Payments And Outstanding Payments (Annex 2);

• the Situation Of Issues Of Public Securities (Annex 3);

• the Situation Of The Special Allocation Accounts (Annex 4);

• to The General State Account At December 31, 2014 (Appendix 5);

• the Status Of Investment Projects (BIP) By Chapter And By Program (Annex 6).

Following This Enumeration, I Would Like To Focus First On The Situation Of Special Assignment Accounts (CAS) Which, At Our Level, Are The Subject Of Particular Attention.

The 2014 Finance Law Opened 13 CAS For An Amount Capped In revenue At FCFA 95,900,000,000 . In Execution, These CAS Generated A Total Amount Of FCFA 127,824,963,961 , And Executed Expenses For FCFA 106,745,650,664 , Representing A Net Surplus Balance Of FCFA 21,079,313,297 . 

I Would Also Like To Dwell On The General State Account Which Has Been Produced, As In The Past Three Years, On An Experimental Basis. Indeed, The General State Account Provided For By Decree No. 2013/160 Of May 15, 2013 On The General Regulations Of Public Accounting, Is One Of The Innovations Brought About By The Directives Of The Harmonized Framework For Public Finance Management In The CEMAC Zone. Adopted In December 2011. Our Country Is Considering Transposition Into Its Internal Law, In Accordance With Our International Commitments. The General State Account, Like The Draft Budget Law It Accompanies, Has Been Sent For Certification To The Chamber Of Accounts.

The General State Account Includes A Certain Number Of Financial Statements, Namely: The Balance Sheet Or Statement Of Net Worth, The Income Statement And The Statement Of Cash Flows. A Net Situation Of FCFA 2 252.7 Billion as Of December 31, 2014 emerges From The Said Financial Statements , Obtained By The Difference Between The Total Assets And The Total Liabilities At December 31, 2014. 

However, I Would Like To Underline The Transitional And Provisional Nature Of This Net Situation, Having Regard To The Implementation Of Asset Accounting, The Process Of Which Has Not Yet Reached Maturity. Efforts Are Being Made At The Level Of The Ministry Of Finance In Order To Consolidate The Prerequisites That Are, The Validation And Implementation Of The State's Accounting Standards, The Inventory And Valuation Of Financial Assets And Liabilities And The Inventory Of Assets State Property With A View To Establishing The State's Opening Balance Sheet For 2019.

It Is An Opportunity To Reiterate Here The Commitment Of The Government, To Gradually Implement The Reforms Adopted In Our Budget And Accounting Charter, Which Require Taking Into Account Institutional Considerations And Greater Mobilization Of Financial Resources , A Densification Of The Information Feedback System.

It Is Therefore A Real Challenge To Be Taken Up By The Government, Which, Through My Voice, Ensures The Smooth Running Of All These Reforms And Their Successful Completion Within The Time Allowed.

Madame President,

Honorable Commissioners,

Ladies And Gentlemen,

In View Of The Scope Of The Reform That We Have Been Carrying Out For A Few Years In The Field Of Public Finance, It Is Always Important To Underline The Necessary Involvement Of All The Bodies Of The State, In This Reform Movement. Working In Synergy Is Therefore Essential For The Effective Implementation Of This Important Reform, Which Is Also One Of The Key Axes Of Vision 2035, In Its Governance Component.

Your Constant Support For This Vast Reform Movement Is Greatly Appreciated By The Government Which, Through My Voice, Thanks You For It And Counts On Our Rich And Close Collaboration.

Here Is Thus Presented, The Substance Of The 2014 Settlement Bill, Submitted To The Examination Of Your August Commission.

Not Pretending To Have Said Everything, I Naturally Remain At Your Entire Disposal For Any Questions And Additional Explanations.

Thank You For Your Kind And Kind Attention. / -