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http://www.africanews.org/central/congo-kinshasa/stories/19990111_feat2.html
Kabila Bans Foreign Currency Transactions
January 11, 1999
Kinshasa, Congo (PANA) - President Laurent Kabila has banned all foreign
currency transactions outside the banking sector in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC), it was s learned Monday in Kinshasa.
A presidential decree issued over the weekend said that all transactions on Congolese territory must now be in Congolese francs, the national currency.
The decree specified that the exchange of all foreign currencies must be done at the Central Bank of Congo, its branches, at commercial banks or at approved bureaux de change and other operators authorised by the Central Bank.
All services must also be paid in the national currency, the document said, adding that any breach of the new provisions will carry a jail sentence of one month to five years and a fine ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 Congolese francs, or one of the two penalties.
The new measures come after the heavy depreciation of the Congolese franc against the US dollar. The franc now exchanges at a rate of 400 to the dollar, as against 3.30 to the greenback on 24 December.
According to observers, the depreciation of the Congolese currency is due to the introduction of 50 and 100-franc notes into the market while foreign exchange is becoming scarce. But Kabila's economic advisor has denied this claim.
He said no new notes had been printed, adding that the two denominations have been in circulation since 30 June, when the Congolese franc was introduced to facilitate commercial transactions.
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