The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) kept its main policy rate, the tender interest rate (TIAO), unchanged at 5.00% on 23 September 2024, following the third ordinary session of the year of its Monetary Policy Committee, held at the bank's headquarters in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The committee also left its other key rates unchanged.
The meeting was chaired by BEAC Governor Yvon Sana Bangui, who is the statutory president of the Monetary Policy Committee. The central bank sets monetary policy for the six member states of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC): Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
INFLATION EASING BUT ABOVE NORM
BEAC projected inflation across the CEMAC zone at 4.2% for 2024, down from 5.6% at the end of 2023, but still above the community norm of 3%. The bank expected inflation to return towards the 3% norm in 2025, after three years of price pressures.
Governor Sana Bangui said the inflation trend was downward but that inflationary pressure persisted. With inflation still above the norm, the committee maintained its restrictive monetary stance.
Among the risks to the inflation outlook, local coverage of the meeting pointed to a planned further increase in fuel prices in Cameroon in early 2025. Cameroon is the largest economy in the zone and carries the heaviest weight in CEMAC consumption.
It was the sixth consecutive meeting at which the committee left its rates unchanged. The CFA franc used across the CEMAC zone is pegged to the euro.
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