(Business in Cameroon) – The Bank of Central African States -BEAC- noted a good momentum on the primary public securities market throughout the year, despite a constant increase in the interest rates offered on the market. These findings were unveiled during the 3rd 2023 session of Beac’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held on September 25, in Douala.
In July, for example, the volume of claims held by investors on the market rose by 17.8% to CFA5,881.5 billion, according to Beac. The average interest rate charged for fungible treasury bills (BTA) rose from 5.2% in 2020 (compared with 2.7% when the market was launched in 2011), to 5.94% in May 2023. This means that the average cost of these short-term government securities, with maturities of up to one year, has risen by 74 points in less than 3 years.
For fungible treasury bonds (OTAs), medium- and long-term government securities, the average cost rose by 112 points over the same period, from 7.87% in 2020 (compared with 4.18% at the time of the first operations in 2013) to 8.99% in May 2023.
Beac explains this upward trend by the growing interest of Cemac countries in this market, and the resulting surge in demand for financing. The higher interest rates are also due to the measures taken by the Beac to tighten its monetary policy to combat rising inflation.
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