Central Africa sounds alarm over state finances

Central African Republic, one of the poorest and most strife-torn countries in the world, said Wednesday its finances were in an “alarming” state and huge spending cuts loomed without foreign help.

“The situation with regard to state finances is very worrying,” Economy Minister Herve Ndoba said in a statement sent to AFP that described the position as “alarming.”

“The outlook for public finances and the national economy looks very uncertain,” Ndoba said.

“In the absence of external financing, the state will no longer be able to fully implement its initial budget,” the statement added.

It warned of spending cuts of “40 to 60 percent” in some ministries, but gave no further details.

A landlocked country of around 5.5 million people, the former French colony has a long history of volatility and economic woes.

In 2013, it plunged into a civil war along sectarian lines after its then president, Francois Bozize, was toppled by a coalition of armed groups.

Fighting raged for five years before falling back in intensity but violence and abuse remain widespread today and the armed forces are weak.

Last June, France announced it was freezing its budget support of around 10 million euros ($10.5 million) in response to what it described as an anti-French campaign orchestrated by Russia.

A rapprochement between the CAR and the Kremlin saw the arrival of Russian paramilitaries in December 2020 who helped thwart an attempt to topple the president, Faustin Archange Touadera.

The Russian operatives are described by France and others as mercenaries from the controversial Wagner group, allegedly deployed in exchange for a share of the CAR’s mineral wealth.