Grow more and export more to balance our trade with the outside- Lazare Bela Dixit

The balance of payments is a technical document on the macroeconomic accounts of the country.

"This means that the results arising from the review of these exchanges are not intended for public administrations since it is a management tool of economic policy," said Lazare Bela Dixit, Director of Economic and Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Finance (MINFI).

He chaired yesterday in Yaounde, the November session of the National Technical Committee of the balance of payments.

And it was just a question of reviewing and validating the results of 2014, the situation of the first quarter of 2015 and the outlook for the end of the year.

"Results generally involved an unfavourable context marked by the 50% drop in crude oil prices, deteriorating terms of trade and the decline of the euro against the dollar," according to Lazare Bela.

Our source, however, indicated that the balance of payments covers all transactions between Cameroon and abroad: the balance of trade (imports and exports), foreign direct investment in Cameroon and Cameroon's investments abroad (the example of Tradex stations located in Chad and Equatorial Guinea).

The balance of payments also takes into account borrowings of Cameroon, its grants loans, money transfers with the diaspora, etc.

"It's sort of the Cameroon economy balance in a year," he said. It thus appears that in 2014 the trade deficit between Cameroon and abroad worsened to FCFA 692.2 billion, or 4.3% of GDP. This deficit was FCFA 557.2 billion in 2013.

"Despite the external shocks, the resilience of the Cameroonian economy was better than in many oil-producing African countries."

Excluding petroleum, "exports were up 16.7%, driven by increased 24.8% cocoa, sales of fuels and lubricants by 24.9%, wood and wood products 8.6 %, primary aluminum of 130.3%. " At the same time, imports rose 14.1% to FCFA 747.3 billion. 3 Excluding petroleum, they increased by 8.8% mainly due to increases in transportation equipment purchases ( 48.2%), electronic machines and apparatus (24.5%), pharmaceuticals (33.6%), pig iron, iron and steel (35.8%).

To bring all this to ordinary Cameroonians, Lazare Bela says that the public can understand that agriculture brings in money.

"If we grow more, we will export more to balance our trade with the outside. Also, be aware that it is the industry which brings development. If locally we produced what is important, the scale will also balance."