IMF and Kinshasa provide update on financing program

© Sonia Rolley/RFI
Congolese Finance Minister Nicolas Kazadi (right) and IMF Resident Representative Gabirel Leost in Kinshasa on July 19, 2021. (illustration image)

The IMF completed a week-long mission in Kinshasa on Monday. Among the issues on the agenda was the use of part of the endowment of approximately $1.5 billion approved in August 2021. Special Drawings” (SDR), an IMF mechanism to help its member countries cope with the consequences of the economic crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi

The Congolese government has decided to allocate half of this sum to social projects, the other half reinforcing the international reserves of the Central Bank.

Kinshasa is counting on this money to finance the so-called development program for 145 territories. It is an initiative of the authorities to facilitate the access of populations in rural areas to basic social services such as education and health.

According to the government, funds will be allocated to each territory of the country for the construction and/or rehabilitation of schools, health centers and other priority infrastructures.

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However, the IMF is cautious and wants to be reassured that these funds are well managed and used efficiently.

The government therefore has an envelope of more than 700 million dollars in an account of the Central Bank of Congo housed at the Bank for International Settlements, a transit financial institution. Of this envelope, a first tranche of 300 million dollars will be released shortly and made available to the agencies in charge of implementing the projects.

In addition, Kinshasa has requested flexibility from the IMF, hoping for more than this 300 million dollars before the end of 2022, which will depend on the capacity to execute the projects according to the planned plan. This proposal will be discussed at the end of April during a forthcoming IMF mission as part of the second evaluation of the program between the Congolese government and the financial institution.

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