Economic activity decelerated sharply in 2020 because of COVID-19, but the mining sector proved resilient and continues to grow rapidly. Jean Michel Sama Lukonde (former Gécamines’ general director and a close ally to the President) was appointed as new Prime Minister.Ĥ. On the political front, after a two-year governing coalition between the FCC (former President Kabila’s alliance) and CACH (President Tshisekedi’s alliance), President Tshisekedi declared its end and succeeded in changing Parliament’s majority to a new alliance favorable to his reform agenda. To help address the COVID-19 crisis, an additional RCF disbursement, also equivalent to 25 percent of quota (this time in the form of budget support) was approved by the Board on April 22, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the country hard, causing 40,254 confirmed cases and 916 deaths as of late June 2021, and restrictive measures were set to help control its three waves ( Annex III). The last year, including the SMP period, was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and intensifying political challenges. A safeguards assessment of the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) was conducted by the IMF staff in February 2020 and a recently published governance and anti-corruption assessment provides a comprehensive diagnostic of vulnerabilities in key economic areas and proposes needed reforms to address them ( Annex II).ģ. The objectives of the SMP, which covered the period from November 2019 to May 2020, were to strengthen macroeconomic stability, reinforce international reserves, and advance key structural reforms to start tackling poor governance, a difficult business environment, and pervasive poverty. The first Article IV consultation since 2015 was concluded in August 2019, followed by the approval of a combined Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) disbursement and a Staff Monitored Program (SMP) in late 2019. Following long overdue elections in December 2018 and a change of President in early 2019, active relations were reestablished between the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the IMF.