Business / International
DRC annual inflation edges up to 18.35 pct
12 Jul 2011 at 19:33hrs | Views
Democratic Republic of Congo's year-on-year inflation edged up to 18.35 percent at July 3 from 16.37 percent the month before, according to figures from the Central Bank.
The Congolese franc has remained stable at around 921 francs to the dollar in the same period, the bank's website indicated.
A bank official told Reuters in May that inflation was being driven by increased global food and fuel prices.
Decades of conflict and misrule have devastated the country's industry and agricultural sectors, meaning the country is heavily reliant on imports.
President Joseph Kabila, who is running for re-election this year, said last month that his government had brought macro-economic stability to Congo since he came to power in 2001 at the height of the war.
"Economic growth has reached 7.2 percent and nearly 80 percent of our external debt has cancelled," Kabila stated in a speech.
Congo had more than $12 billion of external debts written off last year, in a move backed by the IMF.
The vast central African country is attracting increasing interest in its vast mineral resources and produced nearly half a million tonnes of copper last year.
But a World Bank report in June said bad governance and corruption was hampering the country's economic progress.
The Congolese franc has remained stable at around 921 francs to the dollar in the same period, the bank's website indicated.
A bank official told Reuters in May that inflation was being driven by increased global food and fuel prices.
Decades of conflict and misrule have devastated the country's industry and agricultural sectors, meaning the country is heavily reliant on imports.
President Joseph Kabila, who is running for re-election this year, said last month that his government had brought macro-economic stability to Congo since he came to power in 2001 at the height of the war.
"Economic growth has reached 7.2 percent and nearly 80 percent of our external debt has cancelled," Kabila stated in a speech.
Congo had more than $12 billion of external debts written off last year, in a move backed by the IMF.
The vast central African country is attracting increasing interest in its vast mineral resources and produced nearly half a million tonnes of copper last year.
But a World Bank report in June said bad governance and corruption was hampering the country's economic progress.
Source - Reuters
