(Ecofin Agency) - The measure aims to preserve the population’s purchasing power in a context marked by inflation and the consequences of the war in Ukraine. 

Last Saturday, DRC Prime Minister Jean Michel Sama Lukonde (photo) signed two decrees suspending VATs on some essential goods, cement, and some products used in the real estate sector for one year. 

The suspension is part of the country’s strategy to curb inflation, which is affecting both the economy and the population’s purchasing power.  In an international context marked by the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, which boosted global commodity prices, the IMF forecasts DRC’s inflation to reach 11% this year, from 5.3% in 2021.  

According to a communique by Gaspard Ngondankoy, chief of the Prime Minister’s staff, orders have been given to ensure the application of the decrees issued, under the supervision of the Minister of Finance. The decrees, which took effect retroactively, cover the period going from April 15, 2022, to April 15, 2023.