Cameroon: Snapshots of 2009 draft budget

Budget assumptions
The 2009 draft budget which stands at 2301.4 billion FCFA is based on the following assumptions: a real GDP growth of 4 percent; an annual average inflation rate of 3 percent; oil price of 68 US dollars per barrel; and a dollar exchange rate fixed at 477 FCFA. Government also assumes that the measures it will take will offset the negative effects of the global financial crisis.

Education gets lion’s share
Education has always had the lion’s share of the state budget. The 2009 draft budget is no exception. The three main ministries in charge of education, notably Basic Education, Secondary Education and Higher Education, have a combined budget of over 397 billion FCFA representing 17 percent of the total budget. Secondary Education has the overall highest budgetary allocation (204.5 billion FCFA). Basic Education has been allocated 153.1 billion FCFA while the Higher Education budget stands at 39.4 billion FCFA. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has the smallest overall budgetary allocation (4.1 billion FCFA).

Too few classrooms
Although the education ministries have the biggest budgets, not much of that will be used to invest in infrastructure. In the Basic Education sector, government will construct 1800 classrooms. That will mean an average of 180 classrooms in each of the 10 regions. Considering the acute shortage of classrooms in the country, especially in rural areas, that will be like a drop in the ocean. In the Secondary Education sector, the situation will be even worse. Government plans to construct only 400 new classrooms, representing an average of 40 classrooms per region. But government is yet to construct a single classroom in many of the new schools created in the last few years. Again, government will offer them little help this year. Universities will also continue grappling with overcrowded amphitheatres.

Better World Bank scores
Government is so confident of improving the business climate that Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni predicted in his budget speech Tuesday that Cameroon would have a better ranking on the World Bank Doing Business Report after 2009. One of the measures to improve the business climate is the setting up of a one-stop shop for registering new businesses. Government intends to set up the one-stop-shop with the assistance of the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank subsidiary that supports the private sector. The prime minister said the one-stop shop would also substantially increase the volume of internal and foreign direct investments.

Wage bill increases
The envisaged 2009 wage bill has increased significantly relative to the original 2008 budget. The expenditure on personnel has soared from 510 billion FCFA in 2008 to 624 billion FCFA in 2009, representing an increase of 114 billion FCFA. Civil servants should not jump in jubilation, imagining that their salaries will be raised again. The increase in the wage bill represents the salary raise for civil servants in March this year and the envisaged recruitment of new workers, especially the «absorption» into the public service of 9500 temporary workers. If there is anybody to be jubilant, it is definitely the temporary workers, some of whom have been working for decades in very miserable conditions.

Budget increase or decrease?
The explanatory note of the draft budget tabled at the National Assembly this week states that the budget has increased by 25.4 billion FCFA from last year. The budget voted by MPs last year stood at 2276 billion FCFA while the draft budget stands at 2301.4 billion FCFA. That, of course, is a clear increase. But the draft budget failed to state that following panic measures taken by government last year, after the February riots a presidential fiat raised the 2008 budget to 2482 billion FCFA, an increase of 206 billion FCFA. That is the real operational budget of 2008. The current draft budget which stands at 2301.4 FCFA, is less than the operational budget of 2008 by 180.6 billion FCFA. Government’s claim that the budget has increased is therefore inaccurate.

Allocations of 2009 draft budget

Libel chapter Recurrent Expenditure Investment Total

01 Presidency of the Republic ---------------------- 40.609 10.000 50.609
02 External services of the presidency --------------- 5.252 1.050 6.302
03 National Assembly ----------------------------- 11.710 2.000 13.710
04 Prime Ministry --------------------------------- 9.074 1.800 10.874
05 Economic and Social Council ------------------- 922 1.200 2.122
06 External Relations ------------------------------ 23.560 2.200 25. 760
07 Territorial Administration and
Decentralisation --------------------------------- 23624 6.500 30.124
08 Justice -------------------------------------------- 19.899 4.600 24 499
09 Supreme Court ----------------------------------- 3.914 700 4.614
11 Supreme State Control 3.526 1.400 4.926
12 General Delegation for
National Security --------------------------------- 58.049 5.200 6.3249
13 Defence ------------------------------------------ 150.958 11.100 16.2085
14 Culture ------------------------------------------ 2.987 1.700 4.687
15 Basic Education ---------------------------------- 115.559 37.543 15.3102
16 Sport and Physical Education ---------------------- 11.309 3.100 14 409
17 Communication ----------------------------------- 5.298 1.270 6.568
18 Higher Education --------------------------------- 23.933 15.500 39.433
19 Scientific Research and
Innovation ----------------------------------------- 6.086 6.500 12.586
20 Finance ------------------------------------------- 44.027 8.00 52.027
21 Commerce --------------------------------------- 3.240 1.000 4.240
22 Economy, Planning and
Regional Development -------------------------------- 10.018 17.576 27.594
23 Tourism --------------------------------------------- 2.964 1.300 4.264
25 Secondary Education ---------------------------- 182.507 22.000 20.4507
26 Youth Affairs ------------------------------------- 4.901 3.600 8.501
28 Environment and Nature
Protection ---------------------------------- 2.200 3.000 5.200
29 Mines, Industries and
Technological Development --------------------- 2.299 2.500 4.799
30 Agriculture and Rural
Development ---------------------------------- 34.627 21.125 55 752
31 Fisheries and Animal
Husbandry ----------------------------------- 9.735 5.949 15.684
32 Water and Energy----------------------------- 4.202 14.000 18.202
33 Forestry and Wildlife ------------------------- 10.893 9.885 20.778
35 Employment and Vocational
Training ------------------------------------------ 3.328 2.400 5.728
36 Public works ------------------------------------ 87.257 78.728 165.985
37 State Property and
Land Tenure ------------------------------- 7.998 2.300 10.298
38 Housing and Urban
Development --------------------------------- 17.346 39.622 56.968
39 Small and Medium Size
Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicraft ----3.889 2.100 5.989
40 Public Health ------------------------------------- 83.978 29.352 11.3330
41 Labour and Social Security ----------------------- 3.219 900 4.119
42 Social Affairs -------------------------------- 5.542 1.900 7.442
43 Women’s Empowerment and
Family --------------------------------------- 4.003 1.900 5.903
45 Posts and Telecommunication ----------------- 10.016 2.000 12.046
46 Transport ------------------------------------ 7.667 7.500 15.167
50 Public Service and
Administrative Reforms ------------------------- 10.513 2.000 12.513
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Total 1.072.665 394.000 1. 465. 665
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55 Pensions ---------------------------------------- 100.000
60 State Interventions
(ELECAM, CONAC) -------------------------- 131.800
65 Council Expenditures ---------------------------- 54.335
Chapitres Communs: (B) ----------------------- 287.135
Recurrent expenditure ----------------------------358 800
Principal Interest
56 External Public debt -------------- 97.800 70.400 27.400
57 Internal Public debt ------------- 247.800 237.800 10.000
Debt service --------------------- 345.600
External Finance Internal Finance
90 Development Operations -------- 418.000 140.000 278.000
92 Participation ---------------------- 5.000
93 Rehabilitation or Restructuring ---- 15.000
94 Investment Intervention ---------- 438.100
Total 438.100
State Budget
Source:The Herald