Specialized appropriations put to the test of program budgeting in Cameroon

The principle of speciality has long been a fundamental rule of public finance. Applied in Cameroon for several decades, it has gradually become as obsolete as the financial regime on which it was based. With a view to putting Cameroon's public finance management on a better footing, Law N°2007/006 on the State's financial regime established the program budget. It was subsequently reinforced by Law N°2018/012 on the financial regime of the State and other public entities. From then on, it was a truism that this formal introduction of the program budget at the heart of public finance management would overturn its structure and foundations, in this case the specialization of budget appropriations. In the light of this analysis, it would appear that, in its new guise, the principle of specialization has been substantially transformed.