DRC: mixed results for the IMF's first mission

Text by: RFI Follow

The International Monetary Fund ended its first mission of the year to the DRC on Tuesday. The objective is to obtain credit lines or even direct budget support from donors. The IMF mission met with the country's various authorities and drew up a brief report for the media.

Publicity

Among the positive points noted by the IMF, the macroeconomic framework which has remained " relatively stable ", according to preliminary data transmitted to December 31, 2019. The DRC has also generally respected its commitments in terms of structural reforms, explains the head of the mission. The IMF demanded in particular the widening of the income tax base, which today provokes the anger of civil servants, and the publication of a cash flow plan . It is half the budget adopted for 2020.

What worries IMF experts, however, is the new slippage in public finances at the start of the year, with an increase in spending. Many had been postponed until 2020 to meet the constraints set for December.

Even more worrying, as revenues had not increased enough, the Congolese government once again called on the Central Bank to obtain an advance. Result: at the end of January, its foreign exchange reserves only covered three weeks of imports. It was the use of this practice that had led to inflation and depreciation of the Congolese franc last year.

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• DRC
• IMF
• finances

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