(Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo’s central bank said on Monday it expected the economy to contract -1.7% in 2020, improving on an earlier forecast of a -2.4% contraction due to higher mining receipts.

The mining sector has performed better than anticipated because of the success of confinement measures introduced to combat the coronavirus, paired with a rise in the global price of copper, one of Congo’s key exports, the central bank said in a statement.