To Rescue threats in civil servants salary payments; Government suspends automatic debits from the Road Fund

The Ministry of Finance has just sent an official memo to the Administrator of the Road Maintenance Fund (FER) announcing an exceptional measure: the suspension of automatic debits from the Road Fund account for the months of November and December 2025.

According to the document signed by Minister Louis Paul Motaze, this decision has a specific objective: to allow the Treasury to meet the State’s priority expenditures, including:

salary payments,

pension payments, and a portion of the external debt, arrears of which already amount to 145 billion FCFA.

In other words, the government is experiencing significant financial pressure at the end of the year. Available resources are no longer sufficient to cover all obligations, and the Treasury must prioritize the most urgent expenditures.

Why the Road Fund?

The Road Maintenance Fund usually benefits from automatic deductions made by the BEAC (Bank of Central African States) to finance road network maintenance.

The letter indicates that the Minister has instructed the BEAC’s National Directorate to suspend these deductions, exceptionally, to bolster the State’s cash flow during this difficult period.

This suspension is presented as temporary. The Minister states that the deducted funds will be reimbursed as soon as Cameroon receives a loan currently being negotiated with Afreximbank.

A revealing measure

This correspondence clearly shows: that the State is facing significant cash flow stress,that there is a significant delay in the payment of external debt,and that the government is counting on external financing to cover the deficit.

While awaiting this loan, the road sector risks suffering from a slowdown in funding, which could affect road maintenance, already fragile during this dry season.

Through this note, the Ministry of Finance implicitly acknowledges the financial strain the country is facing. By temporarily suspending debits from the Road Fund, the government is primarily seeking to maintain its essential commitments, particularly the payment of salaries and debt.

This is an emergency strategy, pending the financial boost that the Afreximbank loan may provide.