THE government of Democratic Congo has decided to defer the introduction of new rules requiring certain government fees and taxes to be paid in foreign currency, state radio reported this week. The new regulations, covering import taxes amongst other payments, had threatened to paralyse the Congolese economy and had sent the black market rate for the local currency, the Congolese franc, into a tailspin. At the end of last week it was trading at 125 Congolese francs to the dollar, which compares with the official rate of 50 to the dollar set on October 24. – Reuters