Kinshasa, April 26th, 2021 (CPA).– The Congolese franc (CDF) ended the week of April 19th to 25th, 2021 with a slight depreciation on the interbank market, changing to CDF 1.999.9 (one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, nine centimes) for USD 1 (one), against CDF 1.996 (one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six) at the beginning of the week, that is to say Monday, April 19th, indicated Saturday, the mercurial of the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) on its website. In the parallel market, the exchange rate between the CDF and the USD has been stable for several weeks, at CDF 2,000 (two thousand) for USD 1 (one) when it comes to the sale of the US dollar. On the purchase of American currency, the applied rate is CDF 2.025 (two thousand and twenty-five) for ISD 1 (one), during the week under review. However, the Monetary Policy Committee (CPM) noted that in the first quarter of 2021, the state’s balance showed a slight surplus of CDF 9.6 billion while in the corresponding period of the year 2020, the State was in deficit. On the foreign exchange market, the CPM specifies that the relative stability of the Congolese franc on the two market segments continues. Indeed at the end of March 2021, the exchange rate stood at CDF 1,982.36 (one thousand nine hundred and eighty-two, thirty-six cents) the US dollar indicative, with a slight monthly depreciation of 0, 1%, while the parallel market, the exchange rate remained at its level observed at the end of February, at CDF 2,023.83 (two thousand and twenty-three, eighty-three cents) to the US dollar. Since the beginning of the year, continues the CPM), the CDF has depreciated slightly by 0.5% and 0.2%, respectively at the indicative and at the parallel against the backdrop of stabilization efforts initiated by the institute resignation. In addition, foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 505.71 million, corresponding to 2 (two) weeks of importation of goods and services. In the same context, the CPM underlines that the balance sheet of the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) indicates a monthly increase in the monetary base of 289.7 billion FC. This expansion is explained mainly by the increase in net domestic assets of CDF 617.4 billion. As for the overall outstanding amount of the BCC bond, it increased by CF 2.5 billion. The free holdings of the Issuing Institute remain negative at CDF 288.9 billion against CDF 531.6 billion in February 2021. As a reminder, the stability of the macroeconomic framework was attested during the weekly meeting of the Economic Conjuncture Committee last Wednesday which was chaired by the outgoing Prime Minister, Sylvestre Ilunga Ilukamba. During this meeting the BCC had, moreover, announced the reduction of 5% of its key rate which went from 15.5% to 10.5%.