The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) plans to tax mining companies in local currency in an attempt to "drastically reduce" dollarization in the economy within three years, reports Bloomberg, citing Prime Minister Matata Ponyo.

The DRC franc has been stable for four years and "we don't have any justification for people to pay taxes in U.S. dollars," Ponyo said in an interview with the news source. "We are in the process to de-dollarize our economy and bring people to use the local currency more and more," he added.

Hyper-inflation in the 1990s, when consumer prices rose almost 10,000 percent, prompted the government to collect taxes in dollars. Bloomberg notes that the DRC franc has been little changed against the dollar this year and Ponyo said the government is targeting "exceptional" inflation of less than 1 percent. The economy is more than 50 percent dollarized, the prime minister said.

The economy may expand about 8 percent this year and more in 2014, led by the mining industry, Ponyo added.

The DRC's government is reportedly seeking to increase revenue from the recent expansion of its mining industry. Mining and oil account for 32 percent of the country's economic output, according to the central bank.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme's 2012 Global Statistics show that the country produced 21.5 million carats of diamonds last year and exported 19.6 million carats of rough valued at US$262.3 million.