Press Release No. 11/154

Press Release: IMF Executive Board Completes Third Review Under the ECF Arrangement with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Approves US$80 Million Disbursement

April 29, 2011

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the third review of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) economic performance under a three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement.¹ The Board's decision, which was taken on a lapse-of-time basis,² enables the authorities to draw an additional SDR 49.493 million (about US$80.2 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to an amount equivalent to SDR 197.972 million (about US$320.6 million).

Satisfactory policy implementation continues in the Fund-supported program under challenging conditions. The authorities met all quantitative performance criteria at end-December 2010 and structural reforms progressed well, including in the extractive industries, where these reforms are expected to contribute to economic growth.

The three-year ECF arrangement for the DRC was approved on December 11, 2009 (see Press Release No. 09/455) in an amount equivalent to SDR 346.45 million (about US$561.1 million, or 65 percent of the country’s quota in the Fund). In mid-2010, the Executive Boards of the IMF and the World Bank’s International Development Association supported US$12.3 billion in debt relief for the DRC under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI—see Press Release No. 10/274). DRC has been a member of the Fund since September 1963.

¹ The Extended Credit Facility (ECF) has replaced the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) as the Fund’s main tool for medium-term financial support to low-income countries by providing a higher level of access to financing, more concessional terms, enhanced flexibility in program design features, and more focused streamlined conditionality. Financing under the ECF carries a zero interest rate, with a grace period of 5½ years, and a final maturity of 10 years (http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/ecf.htm). The Fund reviews the level of interest rates for all concessional facilities every two years.

² The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse-of-time procedure when it is agreed by the Board that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.