Congo's budget goes mainly for arms spending

The Congo government is in an economic tight spot. Its eastern provinces which have lucrative mineral resources like gold, tin and coltan reserves are in the eastern provinces now controlled by the rebel M23 soldiers, supported by the Rwandans.

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The main challenge for the Congo government is to feed the war machine, and the budget exercise is to equip the army and pay the soldiers’ salaries. This is turning out to be a financial burden because the rich provinces under rebel control also reduce the tax potential of the government.

It has been calculated that the tax revenue is expected to fall from 15.1 per cent to 12.5 per cent. And the military expenditure has gone up because of the war. The government had promised to double the salaries of soldiers and the police, costing $500 million in the year. The army counts 268,602 personnel, among whom 74,000 are in combat zone.