Washington — The World Bank Group today approved two operations for Cameroon for a total amount of $400 million. The two operations will complement each other to improve the use and transparency of public finances while enhancing resilient and sustainable and inclusive growth in the country.
The first operation, the Fiscal Consolidation and Inclusive Growth Development Policy Financing (DPF), will provide budget support to bolster the country's efforts to promote inclusive and sustainable growth and strengthen resilience to climate change in line with the country's development and medium-term reforms agenda.
"Cameroon's economy faces increasing fiscal and external financing pressures. The World Bank's budget support operation helps the Government of Cameroon implement bold reforms to strengthen fiscal sustainability and social service delivery while laying the foundations for sustainable infrastructure development," said Cheick Fantamady Kante, World Bank Division Director for Cameroon. "This operation is expected to have significant positive impacts that would enhance economic and social development in Cameroon."
The DPF is the second in a programmatic series of three operations planned for 2022-2026. It supports country initiatives focusing on advancing the decentralization process, improving public financial management, promoting inclusiveness, and supporting sustainable infrastructure development that are pivotal in paving the way for the nation's ambitious goal of achieving upper middle-income country status by 2035.
"The program will increase pro-poor resource allocation, spending efficiency, and resource mobilization by improving Treasury management, state-owned enterprise (SOE) performance, fiscal decentralization, and promoting electronic payments," said Samba Ba, Task Team Leader of the operation. "The reforms support poor households through better teacher distribution, adolescent girls' education, social safety nets, and access to IDs, while strengthening the electricity sector's financial health and water infrastructure in agriculture."
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The second operation, Improving Performance, Accountability and Transparency ("IMPACT"), a Program for Results (PforR), seeks to improve domestic resources mobilization in Cameroon with a focus on equity and effective use of public resources to enable improvements in basic services such as healthcare and water supply. It also supports the implementation of several policies supported by the DPF to enhance tax policy, improve treasury management, increase fiscal resources for municipalities and improve transparency and oversight of SOEs.
"Besides equipping the state with more resources so it can fulfill its key roles and improving accountability in the use of these resources, IMPACT will support Cameroon's efforts to manage it public finances in a more climate- and gender-responsive way," said Henri Fortin, Task Team Leader for this second operation.
