Double standards

Gregor Blinkert

World Bank denies forcing Cameroon to raise fuel prices
In an interview granted the AIC agency, the director of operations at the World Bank said that the World Bank never put pressure on Cameroon to lift subsidy on petroleum and raise prices of fuel
By Ayukogem Steven Ojong in Yaounde
Gregor  Blinkert, operations manager at the World Bank has said that the decision of the Cameroon government to raise fuel prices was a sovereign decision void of any external pressures.
“The decision of the Cameroon government to proceed, on 30 June 2014, to raise the prices of petroleum products was made without any pressure from the World Bank. It was a sovereign decision of the Cameroon government,” Gregor Blinkert maintained, noting that he only learnt of the measure from the press.
     He added: “It is true we drew the government’s attention to this in 2012. But what we tried to do was just to point out exactly what was going on and then allow the government and the Cameroonian people to take decisions.”
    The World Bank is denying ever pushing Cameroon to lift fuel subsidy even as government officials are telling Cameroonians that the decision was a recommendation of the World Bank and IMF.

    It should be recalled that a World Bank report published in 2012 noted that subsidy on fuel was suicidal to the Cameroon economy. It urged the government to seriously consider lifting the subsidy.
    Even the IMF, on several occasions and after successive working visits to Cameroon, recommended that the Cameroon government should consider lifting subsidy on petroleum consumption. The IMF maintained that apart from hindering economic growth and investment, subsidy on fuel only benefits the rich and did not impact or improve the lives of the majority poor Cameroonians.
    The IMF explained that the poor masses consume very little fuel because they don’t own cars. On the contrary, the rich, and especially the big companies like MTN, Orange, etc were those benefitting from fuel subsidy.
     Even as Gregor Blinkert claims that the WB did not push Cameroon into lifting fuel subsidy he however, praised the government for maintaining the price of kerosene because according to him, it is the majority poor in Cameroon that use kerosene.
     Gregor Blinkert noted that the increase of fuel prices was inevitable in Cameroon because subsidy had become too burdensome on government since 2010. He said the money should have been used to finance investments rather than subsidise petroleum consumption.
    “Which is the better way of using public funds? By subsidizing petroleum consumption or financing public investments?” Blinkert wondered.