‘Corruption in Finance Ministry cause of sanctions on Sudan’: Adel Abdelaziz

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for Sudan being in the list of most corrupt countries in the world, according to the director general of Economic Development and Consumer Protection Affairs in Khartoum. Adel Abdel Aziz accused the Ministry of Finance of “failing to control funds in their legal channels, administrative idleness. It exploits political power in the establishment of tenders, bribery, royalties, and allocation of lands.” He has attributed the sanctions on Sudan by the United States, the confiscation of assets, and the denial of the use of the US dollar as a global currency in Sudan’s banking sector to the corruption of employees and customers in the Ministry. The latest example of alleged corruption by the Ministry of Finance dates from 15 January 2014, when Sudan’s Inspector General accused the Ministry of Finance of hiding SDG 16 billion in liabilities from its financial statements. He also found that ten government units were spending money outside the budget. Boycott on Sudan Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Trade, Osman Omer El Sharif, has acknowledged that Sudan has been boycotted by some of the Arab Gulf countries. “There are economic sanctions on Sudan”, he confirmed. El Sharif further noted that “the Arab and European countries have raised a red card against Sudan”. Saudi Arabian banks as well as some European financial institutions have suspended their dealings with Sudan as of 28 February. Sudan was ranked at 174 out of the 177 countries surveyed for a corruption index by the Transparency International (TI) in December 2013. The country scored particularly low in the transparency of key national budget documents.File photo: Man holds Sudanese pounds (photographer unknown) Related: Emirates, Saudi Arabia halt some imports from Sudan (17 March 2014) Sudan’s finance ministry accused of hiding SDG16 billion (15 January 2014) ‘Corruption increased in Sudan in 2013’: survey (4 December 2014)