Sele Yalaghuli gives voice. Although divided between research, his hours at the University of Johannesburg and the University of Pretoria in South Africa as well as conferences in East Africa, the former Minister of Finance closely follows developments in finance public in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And Yalaghuli criticizes the dizzying recovery in debt
In a recent outing, the former Congolese Minister of Finance Sela Yalaghuli criticizes the dizzying recovery of public debt, based on statistics from the General Directorate of Public Debt -DGDP-, according to which public debt has increased by 264 % in 2 years, and expressing his fears for the excess weight that the country is leaving to future generations.
A very heavy weight for future generations in Congo
The former national financier recalls that all public debt is “to be paid over several years”. Thus, according to him, the loan “constitutes a drain on future wealth”. Between 2020 and 2022, the public debt of DR Congo increased from 3.6 billion to 9.8 billion. An “unjustified and unjustifiable” increase according to Sele Yalaghuli who recalls that between 2010 and 2020, this debt only changed by 1.1 billion. For him, this “dizzying recovery in the country's debt” does not fit with the country's criteria of viability, sustainability and indebtedness. “The country is now in debt and leaves the burden of repaying to future generations,” he regrets, not without warning of the risk of a heavy burden to finance consumption or risky projects which “constitute an excess burden for the 'future”. And a brake on the development of the DRC.
More seriously, he points out, the projects for which loans are requested are not subject to examination in terms of viability, profitability to guarantee self-amortization. “Also, the debts contracted are not subject to the prior approval of the government, seriously, even less of parliament,” he said, while any debt project, accompanied by verified conditions, should be “submitted to the approval of the government and vote by the two chambers of parliament”, then promulgated by order of the President of the Republic.
“In 2010, the Democratic Republic of Congo had a stock of external and internal debts estimated at 13 billion dollars and at the end of the program dedicated to the heavily indebted poor countries -HIPC-, supported by the International Monetary Fund -IMF-, the country had benefited from the erasure of 80% or approximately 10.4 billion US dollars and there remained 2.6 billion dollars,” he contextualizes. After erasing DR Congo's debt, Sele Yalaghuli continues, the country was advised, like other beneficiary countries, to “reduce the debt with a view to making it compatible with -its- level of GDP”.
To achieve this, capacity building programs were carried out for the benefit of the Public Debt Management Office -OGEDEP-, reformed into the General Directorate of Public Debt -DGDP-, with the role of centralizer and issuer. prior notice to any increased debt. Fourteen years later, the centralizing role of the DGDP and its mission of verification prior to any debt have been circumvented, in the opinion of Sele Yalaghuli.
Public debt, a normal fact, but which must be regulated
Certainly, Sele Yalaghuli specifies that public debt is a normal fact for States and constitutes one of the important components of the resources included in the national budget to compensate for the deficit in own resources. “Seen as such, no problem arises, because all countries in the world resort to borrowing to compensate for the temporary insufficiency of the government's own resources at a specific period. Note that one of the most indebted countries in the world is the United States of America, whose current stock of debt stands at 32.8 trillion US dollars in 2023, according to Statista statistics.», notes Sele Yalaghuli.
But in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the lack of viability and centralization of public debt in reliable documentation caused double payment. And the rapid inflation of the volume of debt (particularly external) ultimately weakens the economic and political independence of the country. It is also one of the causes of the regular devaluation of the Congolese currency, which leads to high inflation on all imported products, and directly attacks the purchasing power of citizens…
Related News :