• Cameroon prioritizes external debt to protect credit standing, delays local payments

• Domestic repayments to worsen in 2026 as IMF loan payback begins

• Government plans revenue-based budget amid end of IMF funding support
  

Cameroon’s Finance Minister Louis Paul Motaze defended delays in domestic debt payments on Nov. 18, saying the government is prioritizing external debt to protect the country’s financial reputation.

Responding to lawmakers’ questions about domestic arrears, Motaze said external repayments cannot be postponed. “We must make our external debt payments. If you do not, you get blacklisted and are seen as an unreliable country. Nobody lends to you anymore, or they lend under extremely restrictive conditions,” he said.

Motaze also warned that 2026 will be “an extremely difficult year” for domestic debt because repayments will begin on support received from development partners under the program agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “From 2026 onward, we start repaying the support we received from our development partners under the IMF program. So we made sure not to take any risks with external debt,” he said.

Cameroon agreed to an IMF-supported economic and financial program covering the period from 2021 to 2025. Under this program, the country used two financing instruments, the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), for a total of 573 billion CFA francs. The funding was intended to strengthen the state budget and to rebuild foreign exchange reserves, which are essential for paying for imports.

Focus Shifts to a Revenue-Based Budget

As Cameroon prepares for a possible new IMF program for 2026 to 2029, which Motaze hopes to secure, the government is also planning for a transition period without new IMF disbursements. The minister said this will require stronger domestic revenue mobilization, signaling an expected increase in tax and customs collections.

“New resources are needed,” he told lawmakers. He warned them to keep in mind that the budget the government will present, the finance law, is a revenue budget that was prepared knowing that budget support from development partners is no longer available because the IMF program has ended. Cameroon had previously received several billion CFA francs per year from the IMF.

Members of parliament stressed the importance of clearing domestic debt, which they consider essential for supporting local businesses, maintaining liquidity in the economy, and sustaining growth. Payment delays to state suppliers continue to weigh heavily on business cash flow and private investment.

According to the National Sinking Fund (CAA), which manages the state’s liabilities, the domestic debt, excluding arrears and floating debt, stood at 4,246 billion CFA francs as of Sept. 30, 2025. External debt reached 8,568.2 billion CFA francs on the same date, highlighting the dominance of external borrowing in Cameroon’s public debt portfolio.

Ludovic Amara, Business in Cameroon