The International Monetary Fund board has approved the disbursement of $368 million to Democratic Republic of Congo.
This is a resumption of lending to the Central African country for the first time since 2012. The IMF agreed to the financial assistance package with Congo in mid-November.
It had previously suspended a loan programme after the government failed to provide sufficient details on the sale of state mining assets to an offshore company.
Congo’s foreign reserves have fallen to critical levels, due to a “recent fall in commodity prices, new spending initiatives, and looser spending oversight during the political transition period.
Congo is a leading miner of cobalt, copper, gold, tin and diamonds but remains one of the world’s least developed countries, largely due to corruption and poor governance.
