A staff team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Calixte Ahokpossi, visited Kinshasa to discuss the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) economic and financial program under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The visit, which took place from April 30 to May 13, concluded with a staff-level agreement on the first review of the DRC’s three-year program. This agreement is pending approval by IMF management and the Executive Board, with consideration scheduled for late June 2025.
Calixte Ahokpossi noted that "the DRC authorities and the IMF team have reached a staff-level agreement on the first review," emphasizing that this is subject to further approvals. Since late 2024, escalating armed conflict in eastern DRC has caused significant humanitarian and economic challenges, particularly affecting North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
Despite these challenges, economic activity showed resilience with a GDP growth of 6.5 percent in 2024. Growth projections remain above 5 percent for 2025, largely due to continued strength in the extractive sector. External stability has improved through reserve accumulation and a narrowing current account deficit. Exchange rate stability since mid-2024 has eased inflationary pressures, bringing year-on-year inflation back to single-digit levels as of April 2025.
The conflict has strained public finances significantly. Increased security spending and public investments led to spending overruns partially offset by strong revenue collection. The domestic fiscal deficit exceeded its target at end-2024 due to these pressures. For 2025, revenue shortfalls are expected due to closed revenue offices in occupied regions and VAT exemptions on basic food products aimed at reducing living costs.
The government remains committed to its ECF-supported objectives despite these challenges. A recalibrated program aims to maintain fiscal sustainability while addressing urgent security and humanitarian needs without compromising priority social investments. Measures include identifying revenue-enhancing strategies and streamlining non-priority expenditures alongside expected additional concessional financing from partners like the World Bank.
Progress on structural reforms is promising, particularly in modernizing public financial management systems. Efforts include strengthening legal frameworks for expenditure adherence, decentralizing spending authorization, establishing a treasury single account, transitioning to resource-based fiscal frameworks, enhancing domestic revenue efforts through standardized VAT billing systems rollout, tackling tax evasion especially in mineral exports oversight, curbing customs frauds at borders among others.
Finally, IMF staff urged continued groundwork for reform measures supporting Resilience and Sustainability Facility programs aimed at enhancing DRC’s climate shock resilience while consolidating its role globally towards low-carbon economy transitions.
"The IMF staff would like to express its gratitude" for "hospitality," "continued support," and "constructive discussions" provided by various stakeholders during their visit.