2013 Govt Bonds: Timely reimbursement guaranteed

The government of Cameroon is putting in place necessary measures to ensure that people who subscribed to its bonds in 2013 through which FCFA 80 billion was raised are reimbursed on time and with the necessary interest rates.

An elective general assembly of the subscribers held in Yaounde on November 17 to select three representatives to liaise between the subscribers and government for the interest of all parties to be guaranteed in the operation.

Speaking during the opening ceremony, the Minister Delegate in the Ministry of Finance, Pierre Titti, said the success of the operation testified of the perfect harmony between the public and private sectors and so there was need to have representatives to defend the interest of the investors who sacrificed their resources to push through government projects.

“These investments have to be reimbursed and the representatives will have to ensure that the servicing is done and paid back on time. When we lend out money, it is always good to have it back and government in its move to make the operation doubly credible thinks that it is good to follow up the reimbursement with investors,” he said.

The Minister Delegate added that the reimbursement has already started. “The servicing is included in the information note when the bonds were launched and so the investors know when they have to be reimbursed.”

According to the Director General of Treasury and Money Cooperation in the Ministry of Finance, Sylvester Moh Tangongho, the job of the representatives will be to ensure that government duly and securely reimburses the money in five years as stated. “Every year, we pay 20 per cent of the amount,” Mr Moh Tangongho said.

The bond issue that was given out on a 5.9 per cent interest rate set out to fetch FCFA 50 billion but ended up collecting FCFA 80 billion. This was the second time such an operation was taking place in the country in recent years after that of 2010 wherein FCFA 200 billion was raised in less than two weeks at an interest rate of 5.6 per cent. Stakeholders are concerting in the country for another operation in the days or weeks ahead.