Fuel subsidies cost Cameroon over FCFA 2,000 billion in 10 years

Minister of Water and Energy (MINEE) Gaston Eloundou Essomba, last Tuesday, February 6, stated that the government’s decade-long subsidy of petroleum products has led to substantial revenue shortfalls, with losses exceeding FCFA 2,000 billion over the past ten years. The peak of these losses was observed in 2022 when the state’s expenditure on petroleum product subsidies accounted for about 25% of its budget resources. The government’s decision to freeze pump prices following the 2008 hunger riots, triggered by a rise in petroleum product prices, has resulted in the state bearing the cost of the gap between the actual price of…