DR Congo to get billions in debt relief from IMF

Kinshasa, 02 July-(ANA)-A debt relief programme worth $12.3bn (£8.1bn) has been agreed for the Democratic Republic of Congo, it has been announced.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank said the country had made good efforts to reform its economy and governance in recent years.

The news comes in the same week as the country marks the 50th anniversary of its independence.

DR Congo currently pays around $300m (£198m) every year in debt repayments.

The African country has been hard hit by violence and bad governance.

An estimated 5m people died in what was dubbed "Africa's world war" between 1998 and 2003, and areas of the country remain in conflict.

Despite having a multitude of valuable minerals, most of its citizens are poor.

Meanwhile, the United Nations mission in the country has marked the beginning of its fresh mandate by officially changing its name.

The Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, said the main focus of the UN Stabilisation Mission in the DRC, Monusco, would be to consolidate peace.

The mission, so far known as Monuc, has been in the country since 1999.

Its new mandate expires at the end of June next year. (ANA)

FA/ANA/02 July 2010-------