By RFPosted on 13-12-2019Modified on 13-12-2019 at 05:12

The Congo-Brazzaville file is removed from the agenda of the Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund in December scheduled next week. The financial authority says it wants to allow "more time" to the Congolese authorities to honor the commitments made last July when it concluded its agreement with the IMF.

In practical terms, this postponement means that the payment of the 48 million dollars expected in January by Brazzaville is postponed because for the IMF, which carried out an evaluation mission to Brazzaville in November, the conditions are not met.

At the end of its mission in November, the IMF had already sounded the alarm. In a statement, the organization asked brazen words in Brazzaville to work hard to meet the commitments made when signing the agreement in July. In particular, complete the restructuring of its external commercial debt, the total amount of which is still not known and lead the expected reforms in the fight against corruption, all before the end of this year.

→ Read also: Africa economy: Congo-Brazzaville: agreement with the IMF on the test of mismanagement

"A slight postponement", Judge Brazzaville

Objectives obviously not yet achieved since the IMF decided to leave Congo-Brazzaville on the agenda of its December Board of Directors and now gives it a rendezvous at the end of the first quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, the The $ 48 million disbursed by the IMF in January is frozen.

" It's about giving more time " in Congo to " continue negotiations, " says an IMF spokesman. Negotiations with several traders in oil in particular to obtain a rescheduling of the debt of the Congo. Not to mention the audit of the debt of the Ministry of Public Works promised for months but which is still not completed.

For the economist Ruben Nizard, this decision of the IMF is " a warning " addressed to the Congolese authorities.

There are some things that were not quite clear at the time the agreement was reached. This is particularly the case with the amount of debt and the question of the entirety of Congolese debts that are not known. And that the overall audit of the Congolese debt is not carried out was indeed a somewhat surprising element since in other cases, especially on the African continent, we saw the IMF be more cautious, more demanding on the demand of have guarantees on the audit of the debt.

Ruben Nizard, economist at Coface

13-12-2019 - By Florence Morice

" This is not a break " relativized on his side Thierry Moungalla, spokesman for the government, but only " a slight postponement ".

This is not today from the point of view of the government a kind of stoppage in relation to commitments that have been made, it is a slight shift in the calendar, but does not put in cause the vision that is that of Congo to effectively ensure that it will fit into the program that has been negotiated been adopted with the IMF

Thierry Moungalla

13-12-2019 - By Florence Morice

    On the same subject

    Congo-Brazzaville: the IMF's mixed assessment will condition the second installment

    IMF returns to Congo-Brazzaville

    Congo-Brazzaville: despite progress, still no IMF support

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