Government-by-Government Assessments: Democratic Republic of the Congo
During the review period, the government made significant progress by ensuring actual revenues reasonably corresponded to those in the enacted budget. The government produced and publicly issued a revised budget when budget expenditures deviated significantly from budget projections. The government made its executive budget proposal and enacted budget widely and easily accessible online within a reasonable period. The government did not make its end-of-year report publicly available. The government did not disclose major state-owned enterprise debt information. Budget documents did not include major sources of revenue and expenditure and lacked detail on allocations to and earnings from state-owned enterprises. The government maintained special accounts not subject to adequate oversight or audit. There were concerns about the reliability of information regarding expenditures to support executive offices. Civilian oversight of military and intelligence budgets was insufficient. The supreme audit institution met international standards of independence and made its audit report publicly available within a reasonable period. The government specified in law or regulation the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses, but it was unclear if it followed them in practice. Basic information on natural resource extraction contracts was publicly available. The sovereign wealth fund had a sound legal framework but did not fully disclose its source of funding and general approach to withdrawals.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:
- Publishing its end-of-year report within a reasonable period;
- Ensuring budget documents provide a substantially full picture by including major sources of revenue and expenditure;
- Specifically identifying allocations to, earnings from, and debt holdings of major state-owned enterprises in the budget;
- Ensuring greater civilian oversight of military and intelligence budgets;
- Improving the overall reliability of budget information, specifically for expenditures to support executive offices; and
- Ensuring the sovereign wealth fund discloses its source of funding and general approach to withdrawals.