Cameroon – Paul Biya: “Cameroon will not go to the IMF”, said the president in 1986.

After 1985, when the rumors of entry to the International Monetary Fund were felt to bring an infusion to the falling Cameroonian economy, the Head of State intervened to split that “ Cameroon will not go to the IMF ” published in the Cameroon Tribune of March 22, 1986. But Paul Biya was quickly caught up by the reality and resolved to abdicate and to take the way to New York.

As stated by Professor Dieudonné Oyono in his book “Un parcours vital“, “On June 20, 1987, Paul Biya announced a series of measures to reduce the life of the state. This was the starting point of structural adjustment … Thus, like many African countries, Cameroon entered an era of adjustment through the caudine forks of the organizations of the Brettons Wood system.

 30 years after the president puts Cameroon back under structural adjustment with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which granted Cameroon $ 666.2 million in credit for a three-year economic program to redress an economy undermined by the fall in oil prices.

Written by Ashembwom Stephanie, June 27th 2017