Here is an overview of economic news from the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to a weekly economic note from the Central Bank of Congo, the national currency, the Congolese franc, experienced a slight appreciation of 0.6% on the official foreign exchange market last week.
The foreign exchange market remained relatively stable from week to week, both in the official segment and in the parallel market. However, the Congolese franc depreciated slightly by 0.11% on the parallel market, with a rate reaching 3,354.8 Congolese francs for one US dollar.
The Central Bank’s economic outlook note also indicated that as of May 23, 2023, the foreign currency budget execution deficit stood at US$94.09 million. Revenues amounted to US$68.9 million while expenses reached US$162.9 million.
In addition, international reserves were assessed at US$4.1 billion as of May 25, representing 2.25 months of import cover.
These economic figures show that the DRC is still going through financial difficulties, despite the efforts made to improve the situation. However, the increase in the value of the Congolese franc on the official foreign exchange market is a positive sign that may encourage investors and foreign companies to take a greater interest in the Congolese economy.
There is still a lot of work to be done for the DRC to achieve a stable and dynamic economic situation, but these figures show some improvement and are therefore encouraging.