New momentum in relationship with aid donors

A high-level delegation of World Bank and IMF officials, together with representatives of other UN agencies and donor countries, has concluded a 10-day appraisal mission to the DRC and raised the prospect of renewing formal contacts with, and post-conflict relief to, the country, a UN official told IRIN on Wednesday. The two Bretton Woods institutions, along with most bilateral donors, cut off aid to what was then Zaire in the early 1990s, amid international criticism of the late president Mobutu Sese Seko. Among the achievements of the 3-14 November mission was to set up “a timetable of discussions” between the government and the World Bank-IMF, the official said. This would include the resumption of aid and the DRC’s integration into the international financial system. A thorough technical exercise was scheduled to follow in February 2000, the official said. Discussions on DRC’s debt arrears, estimated at US $14 billion, were still “very preliminary”, but the Bretton Woods bodies were expected to come back quickly with proposals on a community support programme worth up to US $400 million. They were also expected to establish “a small presence” in Kinshasa to assure continuity in the current rapprochement with DRC, the official added.