The bill, submitted to Parliament for the budget orientation debate, consolidates the maintenance of the public debt stock at below 50% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a threshold significantly more restrictive than the CEMAC convergence criterion set at 70%. The planning is based on a resilient macroeconomic trajectory that expects a 3.5% growth in national activity in 2026 and 3.7% in 2027, alongside a controlled consumer price index projected at 4% before reaching 3.2% by 2027.

The budget consolidation is closely tied to the negotiation of a new structural adjustment program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). To consolidate the credibility of the state's signature with multilateral donors, financial authorities plan to boost the non-petroleum tax base and compress non-productive current expenditures. The allocation of public resources will prioritize the financial recovery of the electricity sector to curb power outages, the extension of hydraulic, railway, and high-speed digital networks, as well as the completion of second-generation infrastructure. The three-year period also includes the activation of the Special Fund for the Empowerment of Women and Youth, in line with the presidential inauguration directives of November 6, 2025.

The major innovation in the budget guidelines lies in the overhaul of the financing and management mechanisms for public infrastructure. The executive imposes increased selectivity in project maturation and generalizes performance contracts to parapublic entities to limit equilibrium subsidies. To compensate for the narrow margins of maneuver of the state, the roadmap consecrates the development of public-private partnerships (PPPs), project finance techniques, and climate finance endowments. However, the optimization of public expenditure remains correlated with the evolution of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which could slow global growth to 3.1% in 2026, an exogenous parameter that the government attempts to neutralize by accelerating the import-substitution program.


BCN