The Central Bank of Congo (BCC) plans to tighten oversight of banks’ recovery and resolution plans under an IMF-backed programme.

In a report published in January 2026, the IMF said the BCC had committed to issuing an instruction by June 2026 setting out the information banks must include, notably liquidity stress scenarios and the loss of one or more correspondent banking relationships.

The IMF said the instruction will build on earlier measures. Based on plans submitted by commercial banks in May 2025, the BCC is expected to review cross-border cooperation agreements with the home regulators of parent banks with subsidiaries in the DRC, in order to incorporate recovery and resolution arrangements and clarify coordination between supervisors and banking groups ahead of any crisis.

These plans aim to test banks’ ability to withstand liquidity stress in foreign or domestic currency and to document feasible recovery options, including drawing on liquid assets, imposing internal restrictions and activating business continuity measures. This forms part of a broader effort to establish an emergency liquidity assistance framework by December 2025 for solvent institutions facing temporary liquidity shortfalls.

Dependence on correspondents

The move also seeks to curb local banks’ reliance on foreign correspondents, which are essential for sending and receiving international payments, particularly in dollars. The IMF said overall liquidity appears adequate, but vulnerabilities remain: a large share of liquid assets is held with foreign correspondents or parent banks, and these relationships are not subject to formal BCC oversight.

At end-June 2025, claims on correspondent banks stood at about $10.6 billion, versus dollar deposits in the system of around $13 billion. However, these relationships could deteriorate, especially after the DRC failed to exit the FATF grey list in 2025 as expected, reinforcing perceptions that the country is a higher-risk jurisdiction for money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.

Globally, several institutions have documented a decline in correspondent banking ties in jurisdictions perceived as higher risk. The IMF has warned that the loss of these relationships can disrupt trade payments, remittances, and healthcare or tuition payments in countries such as the DRC.

Preparing for shocks

In the short term, more detailed planning requirements may push banks to adopt a more cautious balance-sheet stance, including higher precautionary liquidity buffers, tighter credit standards and more stringent stress testing. Scenarios involving the loss of correspondents may also encourage stronger anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls, as banks often depend on cost and compliance standards to maintain these ties.

The goal is to strengthen banks’ ability to absorb shocks without disrupting services, including by ensuring continuity of international payments, maintaining access to foreign exchange channels and reducing the risk that liquidity strains snowball into a loss of confidence. The IMF is also monitoring other financial stability reforms, including the implementation of a deposit protection scheme предусмотрed under the banking law.

By explicitly targeting liquidity risk and the potential loss of correspondents, the instruction expected by June 2026 aims to formalise operational responses to two vulnerabilities seen as structural in the Congolese banking system.

Pierre Mukoko & Boaz Kabeya