<\/p>\n
A staff-level agreement was reached on both reviews, subject to IMF management plus Executive Board approval, with Board consideration tentatively scheduled for June 2026, according to Ahokpossi.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ahokpossi said economic activity remains resilient, with real gross domestic product (GDP) growth exceeding 5.5% in 2025 plus 2026. Construction, services, plus agriculture were described as the main drivers, offsetting a mild slowdown in the extractive sector. The exchange rate was described as broadly stable since the end of 2025, supported by a narrowing current account deficit plus favourable mineral export prices, although surging oil prices linked to the Middle East conflict were cited as an offsetting pressure.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
International reserves reached $8.8 billion at the end of March 2026, still slightly below a conventional adequacy benchmark of 3 months of imports, the statement said. Year\u2011on\u2011year inflation has remained at 2.5% or below since October 2025, well below the Central Bank of the Congo (BCC) target of 7%, but fuel price increases could push inflation higher in the coming months. The mission urged caution following BCC policy rate cuts from 17.5% to 15% in January 2026, plus 13.5% in April 2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Conflict in eastern provinces continues to weigh on public finances. A ceiling on the domestic fiscal deficit at end\u2011December 2025 was exceeded by 0.6 percentage points of GDP, despite strong revenue collection. Corrective measures centred on revenue mobilisation plus tighter control of non\u2011priority spending are expected to anchor a supplementary 2026 budget, alongside measures to cushion spillovers from the Middle East war.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The mission welcomed the country\u2019s inaugural Eurobond issuance, urging transparent plus effective use of proceeds plus continued public financial management reforms, including operationalisation of the Treasury plus decentralised spending authorisation in four pilot ministries. RSF discussions noted early adoption of an ex\u2011ante climate impact assessment methodology, while urging faster coordination on Forest Code revision.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–IMF\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33908,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-33907","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Calixte Ahokpossi held discussions in Kinshasa from April 23 to May 6 for the 2026 Article IV consultation, the third review under the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) programme supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), plus the second review under the climate-focused programme supported by the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).","published_date":"","news_description":"An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Calixte Ahokpossi held discussions in Kinshasa from April 23 to May 6 for the 2026 Article IV consultation, the third review under the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) programme supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), plus the second review under the climate-focused programme supported by the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33909,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33907\/revisions\/33909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=33907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}