These decrees, signed in the middle of the week by the Minister of Finance Hervé Ndoba, establish in particular the establishment of revenue authorities with different ministries, as well as the publication of precise nomenclatures of taxes to be paid in a certain number of areas. Objective: to improve public finances.
To confer on the State a situation strong financial is what is put forward by the authorities. To do this, the decrees published concern about ten ministries, including that of Territorial Administration, Communication and Media, Mines and Geology, etc., and detail the associated amounts with precision. It will now be necessary to pay 15,000 CFA francs for the opening of a drinking establishment, 5,000 CFA francs for a file for the transfer of remains and for a press release on the radio, it will be necessary to count between 300 and 2,500 CFA francs. All sectors are raked.
If these taxes already existed within the ministries, these decrees redirect the revenue to the State coffers. This measure had been requested for several years already by the elected members of the National Assembly. Objective: to increase domestic revenue in a context of cash flow pressure. However, no quantified objective has been specified.
In February, Minister Ndoba emphasized the “ deterioration of public finances ” due ” decline in domestic revenue “. The 2023 finance bill was already in deficit. This situation can be explained in particular by the suspension of external budgetary aid for the second consecutive year. Moreover, the raising of loans on the regional markets is now complicated for Bangui.
This is why for several months, the Ministry of Finance and Budget has been increasing reforms to bring the currencies into the coffers of the State. He also approaches the major financial institutions which have multiplied visits to the Central African Republic: World Bank, African Development Bank. Latest, in March, the IMF. The institution then asserted that a ” revenue increase ” as well as a “ improvement of the management and transparency of public finances remained essential in order to ensure priority public spending.
There still remains the question of the legal application of these decrees. Already some actors believe that the raising of new taxes must go through the National Assembly and the vote of the Finance Act.