Kinshasa, November 11, 2025
1. A movement that draws attention
The recent appreciation of the Congolese franc, from 2,800 to 2,200 FC per US dollar between October and mid-November 2025, has attracted significant public interest. Many saw a technical response to market tensions; others perceived a departure from the traditional management of monetary policy.
In reality, this adjustment follows a coherent doctrine of anticipatory stabilization, where the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) simultaneously leveraged the evolution of the international context, the synchronization of domestic liquidity, the window of opportunity created by the dollar’s situation, and the need to restore confidence in the national currency.
2. Strengthened fundamentals
This development was made possible by substantial progress in macroeconomic stability over the last quarter, notably inflation control, the consolidation of foreign exchange reserves above 6 billion dollars, and the maintenance of strict budgetary discipline.
The BCC did not act impulsively; it adjusted its instruments precisely when global parameters made the operation optimal.
3. A favorable international environment
The international monetary system has seen, in recent months, a gradual easing of U.S. benchmark rates, a reduction in risk premiums on emerging market assets, and a relative weakening of the dollar across several financial markets. In this context, responsive central banks can leverage the downward elasticity of the greenback to strengthen the domestic value of their currency while limiting interventions.
4. A coherent instruments strategy
To ensure the effectiveness of its instruments, the BCC has structured its decisions around a logic that avoids the tensions usually observed when credit easing is combined with foreign exchange interventions. The reduction of the key rate is not a contradictory monetary loosening, but a structural signal aimed at strengthening the use of the Congolese franc as a domestic financing currency. By improving credit conditions in local currency, the BCC seeks a gradual shift in economic agents’ demand toward the franc.
In a heavily dollarized economy, traditional interest rate and credit channels are weakened. The BCC therefore seeks to maximize the effectiveness of the most operative channel: the exchange rate, while gradually reactivating other channels through monetary cleanup.
5. Targeted interventions
Foreign exchange interventions do not aim for artificial appreciation but for smoothing expectations, stabilizing markets during an exceptional international window, and reinforcing monetary credibility. They also create space for domestic reforms to take effect. In a partially dollarized economy, this combination is coherent within a gradual mechanism to relieve the market in Congolese francs and strengthen confidence in the national currency.
6. The Governor’s leadership
The strategic skill of Governor André Wameso deserves recognition. He accurately assessed the dollar’s relative fragility, identified the opportunity window, accelerated the internal correction mechanism at the right moment, and reduced the overall cost of interventions. This operation demonstrates a fine understanding of the interactions between international liquidity, the dollar cycle, and the structure of Congolese markets. It marks a doctrinal turning point where the global environment becomes a lever to strengthen national monetary resilience.
7. Price behavior
Contrary to initial concerns, market observations show a decline in prices across several segments, notably in food and mobile telephony. This decrease is an early indicator that the exchange rate correction is already improving purchasing power.
The exchange rate transmission mechanism, however, works progressively. Stocks acquired at higher rates must first be sold, and the market’s dollarized structure naturally slows full transmission of franc appreciation. Yet current signals confirm that the BCC’s stabilization strategy is effective.
To amplify this trend, coherent government action remains essential, notably by stimulating local production, reducing structural costs, and alleviating pressures on foreign currency demand. The ongoing disinflation is thus both a direct effect of monetary policy and an opportunity to accelerate structural reforms.
8. Coordinated action
Stabilization cannot be attributed solely to the Central Bank. The goal is to restore monetary policy as an anchor, enabling disciplined fiscal policy, better mobilization of internal revenue, and stronger support for productive sectors. Franc appreciation should accompany structural transformation: substitution for non-essential imports, reduction of foreign currency needs, and a gradual return of the franc as the economic reference.
9. An effective asymmetric doctrine
The recent nearly 22% correction of the Congolese franc in a few weeks reflects a modern and effective doctrine: leveraging a favorable international environment, asymmetric management, calibrated interventions, and precise timing. In a dollarized economy, the BCC focuses its action on the most effective channel: the exchange rate. It thus demonstrates its capacity to anticipate, stabilize, and use international windows to consolidate the currency and strengthen the country’s economic trajectory.
10. Conclusion
The Congolese franc correction is the expression of a controlled strategy, consistent with international practice and enabled by stronger fundamentals. It opens a window to deepen reforms and sustainably reinforce confidence in the national currency.
Léon Engulu III – Cabinet LECC
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