The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is going through a period of financial turbulence. Since the beginning of 2026, state employees have been facing chronic payment delays, a situation that the authorities justify by citing severe strain on the national treasury.

An impossible budget equation?

The management of Congolese public finances is currently under extreme pressure. Several factors explain this bottleneck:

1. A record wage bill: The state must allocate more than $500 million each month to its civil servants. The IMF has also warned that these salaries now absorb more than half of current revenues.
2. Security and humanitarian priorities: The war in the East of the country imposes massive and unforeseen expenditures which siphon available resources to the detriment of the regular functioning of the administration.
3. Tax seasonality: The Ministry of Finance points to the usual weakness in revenue during the first quarter, while awaiting the tax peak in April (taxes on profits).

A difficult daily life for public servants

The delays, which used to only affect "non-priority" sectors, now affect everyone:

1. Military personnel, police officers and teachers: In January, these priority groups received their salaries more than a week late.
2. General administration: For some civil servants, the wait sometimes exceeded three weeks in February.

The hunt for "fictitious agents"

To rectify the situation, the Prime Minister launched a thorough audit of payroll, supported by the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF).

The objective: To uncover duplicates and fictitious agents that artificially inflate the payroll.

The findings of this investigation, expected in a month, should make it possible to identify essential budgetary leeway to stabilize future payments.