Economic growth in the Democratic Republic of Congo is expected to slow to 4.3% and 3.9% in 2019 and 2020, respectively. This was announced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a statement issued this week.

The economic decline will be driven by the fall in copper and cobalt prices, two items that boosted the country's economic growth to 5.8% in 2018. This situation will drop mining revenues, creating a budget deficit of 0.2% of GDP this year.

“On the basis of current policies, incomes in the DRC will remain well below the sub-Saharan African average, despite the positive impact of the revised mining code in 2018. The proliferation of taxes and tax institutions, widespread tax exemptions, a narrow tax base and long and porous borders are the underlying factors,” the IMF said in its statement. This continues to make the business climate difficult, while weak infrastructure leads to high production costs.

This year, the IMF expects the current account deficit to fall to 3.5% from 4.6% last year, and the central bank's foreign exchange reserves to rise from 2.6 weeks of imports in 2018 to 3.7 weeks of imports.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou