08/03/2008 (Bloomberg) - Cameroon's President Paul Biya boosted pay for civil servants and military personnel and abolished import duties on wheat, palm oil and cement in an attempt to calm tensions after riots last month.

A strike on Feb. 24-27 by transport workers over fuel-price increases led to 24 deaths, according to government figures. Cameroon has also been rocked by protests in recent months over Biya's intention to end limits on the length of time the president of west African nation can hold office.

Pay for civil servants and military employees will be raised by a fifth and housing allowances will be doubled to 20 percent of monthly salaries, the government said in a statement released in the capital, Yaounde, late yesterday. Import taxes on fish and flour will also be scrapped.

``After a review of the prevailing economic and social situation of the country, the president of the republic ordered an increase in public service salaries,'' Laurent Esso, the secretary general of the presidency, said in the statement, which was issued after the close of a Council of Ministers' meeting in Yaounde.

Support for youth employment programs and small businesses may be increased. Biya will review how motor fuel is priced and re-evaluate telephone and bank charges, the government said.

Biya also pledged to implement industrial and mining projects as well as agricultural projects to boost output of plantains, rice, and root and tuber crops.