(3 minutes read)
· The Congo is seemingly on an up-tend, going by the IMF’s latest estimates
· According to the IMF estimates, the growth rate is expected to stabilize at an average of 1.8 percent between 2020 and 2021
· But the external debt rate would continue unabated, servicing of which would be a major problem for the country, let alone principal repayment.
The Congo is seemingly on an u-tend, going by the IMF’s latest estimates. According to the multilateral lending body, the Congolese economy has recorded a slight rebound in growth, which was pegged at 1.6 percent in 2018. The recovery was mainly due to increased oil production and recent firming up of prices. . For the last two years, the Central African country was registering a negative economic growth thanks to drop in oil prices and cutback in production due to disruption in demand.
According to the IMF estimates, the growth rate is expected to stabilize at an average of 1.8 percent between 2020 and 2021. But the external debt rate would continue unabated, servicing of which would be a major problem for the country, let alone principal repayment. This has the potential to cause distortion in the economy. As an oil producing nation, Congo’s revenue flows mainly depends on oil mining and market prices.
The common man is suffering on account of the skyrocketing prices including that of esentials. Drop in oil prices and impact of the pandemic leading to lockdown has had their toll on the income of the common man. Employment is not coming through. There are reports that people remain unemployed for months together, which was not the case earlier. Many people have seen a significant drop in their income. Coupled with high inflation and at the same time drop in income, ordinary people are finding it very difficult to fend for their daily expenses. .
A silver lining is the setting up of the second refinery in the country. The modern modular refinery will eventually produce five million tons of finished products per year. It will also create five thousand direct and indirect jobs. The natives are given preference in giving jobs to absorb the teeming number of people who are unemployed.
