The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released a statement on the approval of a $368.4 million loan to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the statement, the Central African country applied for the loan to enable its authorities “to meet their urgent balance of payment needs.”
“The economic environment remains challenging and vulnerable to shocks.
“Real GDP growth is projected to decelerate to 4.5 percent in 2019 from 5.8 percent in 2018… International reserves have fallen to critically low levels,” the IMF said in a statement.
The credit facility approved by the IMF for DR Congo further increases their foreign debt and continues to deepen its dependency on Europe – a situation which critics have argued is the root cause of the suffering in the strife-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to a December 2017 report, the current external debt of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is over $5.35 billion, and the figure has risen significantly since then. The country continues to be a sorry tale because it is on record to be the wealthiest nation in the world with regards to its rich mineral resources, but in reality, remains one of the poorest.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ranks in as the poorest country in the world based on its GDP per capita.
President Felix Tshisekedi, who took office in January this year, has vowed to enact sweeping reform and root out corruption in the poor but mineral-rich central African country. The president claims that corruption is the primary reason behind the country’s poor state.
DR Congo ranked 161 out of 180 on the Transparency International corruption perceptions index released in January 2019.
The IMF said the new government was committed to addressing “issues related to poor governance, a difficult business environment, and pervasive poverty.”
About the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as DR Congo, the DRC, DROC, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo, is a country located in Central Africa. It was formerly called Zaire. It is, by area, the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa, the second-largest in all of Africa, and the 11th-largest in the world. (Wikipedia)
About International Monetary Fund (IMF)
The International Monetary Fund is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 189 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability
