Holder of a master's degree in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, the newly promoted senior economist at the Bretton Woods institution is no stranger to Cameroon. In particular, he was part of the IMF team that led consultations with Cameroon from 2015 onwards. Toomas Orav was also among those who prepared the report on the Cameroonian economy, which served as a basic document during the said consultations.
Toomas Orav will take up his post in Cameroon one year before the end of the country's 2021-2024 economic and financial program with the IMF. Together with the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the program was originally scheduled to end in June 2024, but the maturity was extended until July 2025 by the Fund's Board of Directors.
“This extension is accompanied by access to additional resources to allow the government to have additional budgetary margins, in order to carry out these reforms,” explained Cameroon's Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motazé, the day after the extension was approved on December 20, 2023.
In addition to being able to be at the heart of the negotiations of a new programme from the second half of 2025, if the Cameroonian government wishes to negotiate a new agreement with the IMF, Toomas Orav will certainly be keen to boost the reforms underway in the country, particularly in terms of public finances.
