The prices of petroleum products have been revised upwards since February 2, 2024. The price of a liter of super is 840 Fcfa and that of diesel is 828 Fcfa. That is an increase of around 15%. Only the prices of kerosene (350F) and domestic gas (6500F) remain those charged until now. This is the result of consultations held today between the ministers in charge of finance, trade and hydrocarbons and trade unionists, at the headquarters of the Hydrocarbon price stabilization fund (Csph).
According to initial explanations, this increase in these prices puts an end to the subsidies hitherto practiced by the government and which were still poorly received by donors, notably the International Monetary Fund (IMF). And explanations given by Marie Françoise Ewolo, editorialist at Cameroon radio television (Crtv), “cThis definitively resolves the issue of shortfall and therefore rules out the possibility of another increase in hydrocarbon prices by 2025.“. Enough to possibly reassure a national opinion which has suffered from galloping inflation for years. Especially since the subsidy slate was becoming heavy for the State budget, and the development partners were no longer in agreement with the managers of Cameroonian public affairs. And Paul Biya ended up giving in.
It is therefore a measure which does not surprise, especially since in his end-of-year 2023 speech, Paul Biya had already turned on the signals. “ In order to maintain pump prices at their current level,…the State must, at the cost of significant financial efforts, heavily subsidize imports of petroleum products», warned Paul Biya in his speech to the nation on December 31, 2023. However “ the weight of these subsidies weighs heavily on our budget and considerably reduces the resources that we most need, to provide answers to the other problems that our populations face“. Stating that “the price subsidy of petroleum products stood at 1000 billion CFA francs in 2022, was reduced to around 640 billion CFA francs in 2023 “. A significant reduction, but one that “ continues to weigh significantly on the public treasury», noted the President of the Republic. SO ” we will have no choice but to reduce it again», had informed the President of the Republic. By promising to safeguard the interests of vulnerable groups.
