200, 500 Sudanese Pound banknotes now roll off press

The print-run of the new SDG 100 banknotes has been completed, and the notes will be circulated with the salaries of January. The printing of the new SDG 200 denomination began on Monday, and denominations of SDG 500 are also ready to roll.

The official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reports that Sudan’s Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Motaz Mousa, has been assured of the completion of the printing of the new SDG 100 denomination.

This came during the Prime Minister’s visit last Sunday morning to the Sudanese Company for Currency Printing. He was accompanied by the State Minister at the Council of Ministers, State Minister at the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Governor of the Central Bank of Sudan.

The Prime Minister reiterated the start of a gradual solution through the provision of money in early February, referring to the beginning of the printing of the SDG 200 denomination on Monday. The Prime Minister inspected the different sections of the currency printing press and got acquainted on the stages of banknote printing.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Sudan, Mohamed El Zubeir, confirmed the completion of the printing of the SDG 100 denomination and the start of the printing of the SDG 200 and SDG 500 denominations.

Liquidity crisis

The printing of new currency by the Central Bank of Sudan has been necessitated by hyperinflation, coupled with a chronic shortage of hard cash. Banks have limited cash withdrawals so traders and the public prefer to keep their cash at home, rather than deposit it into banks.

Over the past few months, as the value of the Sudanese Pound has dropped steadily against the US Dollar. In December 2018, the Central Bank of Sudan issued a decision to set the limit of cash withdrawals by bank cards at ATMs at SDG 20,000 ($421*) a month.

Chronic cash shortages

On January 16, it was reported by Radio Dabanga that the country-wide liquidity crisis continues without a solution in sight. Each day sees hundreds of residents queueing at the cash points throughout the country.

At this time, a teacher reported to Radio Dabanga that he went to more than five cashiers in Khartoum, but they were all empty. He said an employee at one of the banks confirmed the lack of liquidity at the banks, and that any person with a bank account is entitled to withdraw only SDG 500 ($10.50*).

Salah Shuaib, in an op-ed written for Radio Dabanga, explained that: “The deteriorating economic situation, which is the well-seen factor of the crisis, threatens the stability of the country – in the absence of practical government solutions to the escalating rise in prices, the rise of the inflation rate, the official government devaluation of the Sudanese Pound, the reduction in cash withdrawals, and the disruption of all productive projects of the state and the private sector.”

Demonstrations that demand the withdrawal of the current regime in Sudan, sparked by the chronic shortage of cash and rising prices of bread and fuel, have just entered their second month.

* As effective foreign exchange rates can vary widely in Sudan, Radio Dabanga bases all SDG currency conversions on the Market Makers Mechanism-determined daily US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS).