Reports of massive emergency credit “premature”

The World Bank on Wednesday played down the possibility of a credit facility worth hundreds of millions of dollars as media reports had suggested, saying that it had just begun discussions on “resumed cooperation” with the DRC. It was premature to discuss what options might be available if this transpired, World Bank Country Economist for the DRC Eric Nelson told IRIN. A government plan for managing its arrears to the Bank, the IMF and the African Development Bank, and implementation of a macroeconomic strategy acceptable to the IMF were needed before the Bank could begin preparation for lending activities, possibly in the first quarter of next year, he said. These activities “might include an emergency credit”, but the level and form of this, and possible Bank assistance, depended “on the level and form of funding made available by other donors” for arrears stabilisation and investment. “No such credit has yet been discussed by the Bank, and it is premature to discuss what options will be chosen,” Nelson said. Meanwhile, the Bank hoped the Friends of Congo donor trust fund for the DRC would be activated in the immediate future, he added.