Cameroon does not subscribe to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard, but has been a participant in the less stringent General Data Dissemination System since December 2000. Cameroon has since taken steps to improve its statistical data, particularly regarding balance-of-payments and national accounts. Nonetheless, there is much room for improvement. Whereas the Ministry of Finance and the regional Bank of Central African States were the primary data reporting authorities at the time of the IMF's 2001 Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes, the 2007 Article IV Consultation notes that this role is now played by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), which operates autonomously within the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Programming, and Regional Development. However, the INS lacks a clear mandate, which makes it difficult to implement methodological and classificatory standards across government agencies.

General Overview

Cameroon does not subscribe to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), but the IMF's General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) website discloses that Cameroon has participated in that system since 2000. Its metadata, along with its ongoing plans to improve its statistical compilation and dissemination practices, are available on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB).

The most recent IMF Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC), data module, was released in August 2001. According to this ROSC, one of two primary data production and dissemination agencies in Cameroon is the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). The second important agency, because of Cameroon's membership in the Central African Monetary and Economic Community (CEMAC), is the regional Bank of Central African States (Banque des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale, or BEAC), which handled monetary and banking system data. Within the MEF, real sector data was compiled by the Department of Statistics and National Accounts (DSCN), whereas fiscal data was handled by the Forecast Department and balance-of-payments data is the responsibility of the Department of Economic Control and External Finance. Both the DSCN and BEAC had publication programs through which statistical information was disseminated to the public. The other agencies dealt with data dissemination to international and government agencies as requested. As of the 2007 IMF report, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) took over as the role of principle agency producing macroeconomic data. The laws governing data collection, compilation, and dissemination of data are Statistical Law 91/023 of 1991 and Decree 93/407 of 1993.

Through the provisions of Decree 93/407, the National Statistical Council was established and given an advisory and coordinating role. The work of the council was supplemented by the activities of the Technical Committee, established in 1997 which, according to the 2001 ROSC, had "a coordinating role in the gathering of the data required for implementing and monitoring economic programs" (p. 8). Other government ministries also participated in the collection of economic data. According to the 2001 ROSC, the responsibility for compiling and disseminating central government operations data fell to the MEF, and the central and local governments were required by law to issue an annual financial statement. The ROSC, however, found that these statements were often delayed and incomplete, particularly noting deficiencies in the statements of the local governments. The ROSC also noted problems with the data handling of the then newly reorganized Social Security Fund (CAA), which has the responsibility of collecting and monitoring external and domestic debt data of the government. While recognizing that reorganization had resulted in some improvements, the ROSC held that "some weaknesses remain in the monitoring and management of domestic debt" (p. 9).

In the IMF's 2005 Article IV Consultation report, specific weaknesses were identified in Cameroon's fiscal data. These included incomplete data on budget implementation; a failure on the part of governments to provide financial information; the national oil company's lack of transparency in the area of financial operations and in the area of public enterprises in general; and "poor monitoring of cross-liabilities in the public sector and of public enterprise debt" (p. 92).

The "Statistical Issues" Appendix to the 2007 IMF Article IV Consultation report noted that "data provision to the Fund remains adequate for surveillance purposes, but there is scope for improvement in quality, coverage, and timeliness in most macroeconomic datasets" (p. 13), adding that the macroeconomic database has seen improvements in recent years, particularly with regard to the data on national accounts and balance-of-payments. The report also noted that although GDDS recommendations call for at least annual recertification of metadata accuracy, Cameroon's most recent metadata review and certification occurred in November 2001. According to the 2007 IMF report, the INS is an autonomous agency within the Ministry of Planning, Programming, and Regional Development. The report noted that the INS suffers from a lack of clarity of its role and function, making it difficult to establish methodological and classificatory standards across all reporting agencies within the government. The report stated that the MEF headed the drive to create a coordinating committee that would assume the responsibility of producing the Statistical Appendix for future Article IV staff reports. In addition, the 2007 IMF report stated that "the integrated personnel management system will be installed in 24 administrations by end-December 2007, including the four current pilot sites, covering 75 percent of the civil service. Its expansion to include the rest of the civil service will be completed at end-2008" (p. 45).

The Principles

Comprehensive economic and financial data, disseminated on a timely basis.

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Cameroon does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS, but the IMF's GDDS website discloses that Cameroon has participated in that system since 2000. Its metadata, along with its ongoing plans to improve its statistical compilation and dissemination practices, are available on the IMF's website.

According to the 2001 ROSC , Cameroon's real sector data was generally in line with the coverage and periodicity requirements of the GDDS. However, the ROSC found that timeliness could be improved. The "Statistical Issues" Appendix to the 2007 IMF Article IV Consultation report noted that "data provision to the Fund remains adequate for surveillance purposes, but there is scope for improvement in quality, coverage, and timeliness in most macroeconomic datasets" (p. 13), adding that the macroeconomic database has seen improvements in recent years, particularly with regard to the data on national accounts and balance-of-payments. The report also noted that although GDDS recommendations call for at least annual recertification of metadata accuracy, Cameroon's most recent metadata review and certification occurred in November 2001. As of the 2007 IMF report, the INS took over as the principle agency producing macroeconomic data. The INS is an autonomous agency within the Ministry of Planning, Programming, and Regional Development. The report noted that the INS suffers from a lack of clarity of its role and function, making it difficult to establish methodological and classificatory standards across all reporting agencies within the government. The report stated that the MEF headed the drive to create a coordinating committee that would assume the responsibility of producing the Statistical Appendix for future Article IV staff reports. In addition, the 2007 IMF report stated that Cameroon's new "integrated financial management system... should substantially improve the accuracy and timeliness of fiscal data both on a commitment and on a cash basis" (p. 14).

Ready and equal access to official statistics.

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Cameroon does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS, but the IMF's GDDS website discloses that Cameroon has participated in that system since 2000. Its metadata, along with its ongoing plans to improve its statistical compilation and dissemination practices, are available on the IMF's GDDS website. BEAC data is released simultaneously through the bank's Bulletin and Statistical Studies publications. Plans are underway to bring the time lag for dissemination of these publications down to two months in the short term. The GDDS website notes that these publications are available in French. The BEAC announces changes in monetary policy interest rates via press releases, and that the bank does not make advance release calendars available. The website adds that central government operations data are subject to simultaneous release to the public by the MEF, as is the data compiled by the National Statistics Institute, but the release of balance-of-payment data is released only on request.

Official statistics must have the confidence of their users. Transparency of its practices and procedures is a key factor.

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Cameroon does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS, but the IMF's GDDS website discloses that Cameroon has participated in that system since 2000. Its metadata, along with its ongoing plans to improve its statistical compilation and dissemination practices, are available on the IMF's GDDS website. The website also discloses that major methodological changes are not usually announced in advance. However, it does note that changes in the aggregates are usually accompanied by technical notes or footnotes. The website adds that national account aggregates and real sector data are published by the INS, and that they are released first to the Minister of Economy and Finance. However, the GDDS specifies that "there is no privileged access to the data before release to the public." The website further notes that balance-of-payment data is only released to such agencies that are members of the Balance of Payments Technical Committee for validation and critique. Any methodological changes are included in the documentation accompanying the data.

A set of standards that deals with the coverage, periodicity and timeliness of data must also address the quality of statistics.

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Cameroon does not subscribe to the IMF's SDDS, but the IMF's GDDS website discloses that Cameroon has participated in that system since 2000. Its metadata, along with its ongoing plans to improve its statistical compilation and dissemination practices, are available on the IMF's GDDS website.

The 2001 IMF ROSC reported that "there is no publicly available documentation on the methodology used by the Department of Statistics and National Accounts" (p. 11) that would permit a user to evaluate data quality, nor is there such a document covering the compilation of central government accounts and balance of payments. The ROSC did mention that there were plans in the works to produce such methodological documents, and that the BEAC makes available such information with regard to the monthly and annual monetary tables it publishes. In the IMF's 2005 Article IV Consultation report, specific weaknesses were identified in Cameroon's fiscal data. These included incomplete data on budget implementation; a failure on the part of governments to provide financial information; the national oil company's lack of transparency in the area of financial operations and in the area of public enterprises in general; and "poor monitoring of cross-liabilities in the public sector and of public enterprise debt" (p. 92). The report noted that Cameroon's budget data declined in quality in 2004, but that an Integrated Information and Management System existed that would help to restore data quality. The 2007 IMF report stated that "the integrated financial management system... should substantially improve the accuracy and timeliness of fiscal data both on a commitment and on a cash basis" (p. 14).