DRC: Public finances, José Sele to consolidate achievements and initiate reforms

The new national treasurer, José Sele Yalaghuli is determined to consolidate the achievements of the action led by his predecessor, Henri Yav Mulang, and to initiate further reforms. Objective: to make public finance a real instrument for the development of the DR Congo. The handover of the torch took place this Saturday, September 7, 2019 during an official ceremony. All stakeholders in this sector took part.

« I hope to take this Ministry of Finance with great humility, determination and patriotism to put myself at the service of the Congolese population under the leadership of the President of the Republic. And to do this, I ask God to help me and bless the Congo, « said José Sele.

Acquis to consolidate

The new finance minister and his deputy find the state’s treasury globally under control. The transitional deficit, on the other hand, is relatively limited and covered by receipts collected during the months with tax deadlines.

« The rate of the Congolese franc against the US dollar at the end of August 2019 remained relatively stable compared to the end of December 2018. This is reflected in a cumulative annual depreciation rate of 1.1% and 0.2% respectively for interbank and parallel markets, « said the outgoing minister, Henri Yav.

Moreover, the inflation rate has been steadily declining since the peak of 54.7% as of December 31, 2017 and stood at 7.2% at the end of December 2018, whereas this year’s projections place the annual rate at less than 5%, far from the goal of the beginning of this exercise. In parallel with this evolution, Henri Yav evoked the level of international reserves which continued to be close to one billion US dollars.

For his part, José Sele praised these achievements, recognizing the work done by his predecessor in an extremely difficult context characterized by essentially political (elections) and security-related domestic constraints, but also the exogenous constraints linked to the price shocks of the country’s export products. Congo Rd.

« Despite these difficulties, you have been able to maintain the fundamental balances of the macroeconomic framework that could help us to contribute a base line on which we must embark. You have kept the essentials under the constitutional prerogatives, which are vested in the Ministry of Finance, particularly a low level of indebtedness. You will be grateful for the story, « said the new Minister of Finance.

Four challenges to overcome

The outgoing Minister acknowledges that these results, positive as they may be, require consolidation by his predecessor. And this consolidation requires, first of all, the pursuit of efforts to increase domestic revenue mobilization with a view to generating the necessary resources for the financing of basic investments.

Secondly, the maintenance of budgetary discipline at the level of public expenditure whose improvement of quality should be preserved.

There is also the need to take better advantage of the opportunities offered by bi-lateral and multi-lateral partners of the DR Congo in order to compensate for the insufficiency of domestic revenues collected to finance the needs of the State for sustained and inclusive growth.

And finally, the pursuit and completion of some reforms currently underway, including improvement of the yield of VAT, the computerized revenue chain, increased transparency and fiscal accountability.

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If Henri Yav does not doubt for a moment that many other reforms will be undertaken by the Minister José Sele to increase the state’s fiscal margin, the new national treasurer already targets the legislative, structural and operational.

As a house son who has climbed the ladder for 17 years, José Sele Yalaghuli has mastered the realities of public finance in the Congo. His professional and political experience, his rigor, his loyalty and his patriotism attest to his ability to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

Eric TSHIKUMA