Mission Concluding Statement 

Kinshasa, DRC: The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Mission Chief for the Democratic Republic of the Congo Mercedes Vera-Martin issued the following statement today:

“During October 19–November 2, an IMF staff team met with the Congolese authorities in Kinshasa in the context of the third review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The mission discussed its findings with the President of the Republic Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, State Minister for Budget Aimé Boji, Minister of Finance Nicolas Kazadi, and the Banque Centrale du Congo Governor Malangu Kabedi Mbuyi.

“Despite the challenging domestic and external environment, including the repercussions of the war in Ukraine and raising tensions in the east of the country, the economy is showing resilience, with real GDP growth forecast at 6.6 percent in 2022. The inflation rate reached 11.7 percent year-on-year at end-September 2022, mainly driven by high global food and energy prices.

“The IMF team had fruitful discussions with the authorities, recognizing challenges associated with the escalating armed conflict in the east, and focused on recent macro-financial developments and outlook, monetary and fiscal policies for 2023, financial sector issues, and continued structural reforms to support macroeconomic stability and build resilience to shocks.

“Building on these constructive discussions, staff and the authorities made good progress and will advance work in the coming weeks toward reaching a staff-level agreement on the completion of the third review under the ECF.

“The IMF team would like to thank the DRC’s authorities for open and constructive discussions during the mission.”