The Bretton Woods institution demands the definitive eradication of the medium-term liquidity tool, estimating that increased drawings would deteriorate the external assets of the fixed exchange rate monetary zone through the purchase of foreign manufactured equipment. The central bank opposes an automatic suppression, establishing a comparative working group to evaluate the practices of other global central banks.

The attractiveness of the instrument is measured by the scope of credit lines requested by the Cameroonian banking sector, the primary consumer of the common bank's resources. Second-tier banks have mobilized an envelope of 41.2 billion CFA francs for the operation of the Bipindi-Grand-Zambi iron ore deposit, in parallel with a 31.3 billion CFA franc loan granted to the telecommunications operator Camtel. The CCA Bank has requested a 30 billion CFA franc line for cross-border mining investments in the Congo, while Afriland First Bank has submitted a request for financing for an industrial oil mill worth 20 billion CFA francs, carried by Sodecoton.

The divergence in vision extends to the policy of equity funding for the sub-region's development banks. The issuing institution's commitments include an increased participation of 86 billion CFA francs in the capital of the BDEAC, complemented by a current account convention of 120 billion CFA francs dedicated to regional infrastructure projects. The monetary regulator defends the strategic utility of the financial windfall in the face of prohibitive interest rates practiced on international markets, justifying resistance to the lender's austerity plan by the need to diversify the production base in the face of the monopoly of raw material exports.


BCN

Tags: fmi beac banque centrale refinancement liquidité zone monétaire économie finance afrique