Beac targets $250 million withdrawal from regional banks to tackle inflation, despite previous setback

The Bank of Central African States (Beac) plans to initiate three bond issuances targeting the community’s banks between March 18 and April 1, 2024. According to the timetable just published by Michel Dzombala, Beac’s vice-governor, these operations aim to withdraw a total of FCFA150 billion from bank vaults (FCFA 50 billion per operation), as part of the restrictive monetary policy implemented by the central bank since 2022 to combat inflation. In detail, the bank will apply an interest rate of 3.5% for 28-day maturity bonds and 2.5% for 14-day securities. To participate in these operations, aimed at reducing bank liquidity,…