On Thursday 10 February 2022 at the Brazzaville Chamber of Commerce, the Minister Delegate for the Budget, Ludovic Ngatsé, met with the heads of tax structures of the Brazzaville Department. The purpose of this first meeting at the beginning of the year was to appeal to and encourage the Minister to reach the fiscal forecasts for the current year.
Indeed, according to the Minister Delegate, “the results expected in 2022 are of the order of 577 billion CFA francs, against 470 billion in 2021. That is 107 billion CFA francs of additional efforts to be made this year. This is a major task”. By way of comparison, Ludovic Ngatsé said that the results of 2021 were not achieved, compared to expectations. For, out of 470 billion CFA francs expected in 2021, the tax revenue achieved was only 444 billion, or a rate of 94.5%.
“In 2022, the programme-year with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we have no right to backtrack. We must not go backwards, so that we do not fall back into the causes of the failure of the former Programme with the IMF, concluded in July 2019, but interrupted in 2020 because of the unsustainability of our debt,” Ludovic Ngatsé instructed.
Knowing that 80% of the annual budget of the Congolese State is made up of tax revenues, the Minister Delegate for the Budget recalled that the means to achieve this are taken into account by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Public Portfolio. In particular, staff training, thanks to the support of Congo's partners, such as the World Bank (WB), through the Integrated Public Sector Reforms Project (PRISP); working conditions (through the construction of tax hotels and mini-tax hotels); remuneration and motivation of agents; and the provision of rolling stock (16 vehicles) to tax departments.
To conclude, Ludovic Ngatsé insisted on the interest of enlarging the tax base by carrying out an effective inventory of all taxpayers and by registering non-registered traders. In terms of securing revenue, he drew the attention of tax inspectors who are still tempted to receive cash from taxpayers. The taxpayer must pay himself at the counter of the Postal Bank of Congo (BPC).
Reacting to the communication of the Minister Delegate, the Director General of Taxes and Domains, Ludovic Itoua, reassured that “the DGID is ready has a qualified staff. It will be enough to solve the technical problems. Like a troop that says: ''At your orders, General”.
The Press Office of the Ministry of Finance
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