The International Monetary Fund Executive Board concluded the 2026 Article IV consultation for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and completed the third review under the Extended Credit Facility and the second review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility. The ECF review allows a disbursement of 190.4 million SDR, bringing total ECF disbursements to 761.3 million SDR, while the RSF review allows a further 66.6 million SDR. The board said economic activity remained resilient in 2025 and the outlook stayed positive, supported by mining exports and a strengthening non-extractive sector, even as the security situation in eastern DRC, the Ebola outbreak, domestic political tensions and spillovers from the war in the Middle East continued to weigh on the outlook and on the budget. Program performance under the ECF was assessed as broadly satisfactory. All end-December 2025 performance criteria were met except the domestic fiscal balance, which was missed because of higher security spending, and the continuous criterion on the non-introduction or modification of multiple currency practices, which was missed after the Central Bank of the Congo changed the exchange rate spread on foreign exchange operations with the Treasury. Corrective actions have been taken. Most structural benchmarks were met, and under the RSF the climate screening methodology for public investment was completed ahead of schedule, while amendments to the Forest Code were delayed for reasons outside the authorities' control. Directors backed a cautious, data-dependent monetary stance, supported a temporary widening of the 2026 deficit, and called for gradual fiscal consolidation, stronger revenue mobilization, tighter expenditure controls, greater transparency over Eurobond proceeds, further reserve accumulation, stronger BCC safeguards, and continued AML/CFT, governance and business climate reforms. The IMF said the next Article IV consultation with the Democratic Republic of the Congo will take place in line with its consultation cycle decision for members with Fund arrangements. Directors also indicated openness to adding pandemic preparedness measures to the current RSF at a future review, subject to the macro-criticality of health risks, available capacity and coordination with development partners.

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