Economists: ‘Liquidity crisis ongoing in Sudan’

Sudanese economists and economic analysts lament that the liquidity crisis is ongoing in the country; employees in the government sector are the most affected by the cash crisis.

Economic analyst Kamal Karrar told Radio Dabanga that the crisis also plagues sectors other than employees due to the exit of large amounts of liquidity from the banking system.

He attributed the main cause of the crisis to the bank administrations’ use of customer deposits on the pretext of investing in an unknown area. He explained that the crisis led to a decline in confidence in the banking system and the expectation of the continued reluctance of citizens to deal with banks for long periods.

Karrar ruled out the impact of pumping South Sudan oil on the foreign exchange rate in the country.

Pilgrimage

“The current decease in the Dollar’s exchange rate has nothing to do with the announcement of the start of the pumping of oil of South Sudan through Port Sudan, but it is related to the decrease in demand for foreign currency after the start of the festival of pilgrimage.”

Foreign exchange gap

He said that the revenues of oil transit do not exceed $400 million while the foreign exchange gap exceeds billions of Dollars.

He stressed that the foreign exchange crisis can only be addressed by increasing production and exports.

As reported by Radio Dabanga in June, Sudanese banks and forex offices are witnessing an acute shortage of liquidity. The Minister of Finance pledged to tackle the situation while economists strongly criticise the recently adopted Foreign Exchange Regulation Bill.

August salaries

The Ministry of Finance announced its commitment to pay the salary of August 2018, coinciding with the payment of Eid El Adha (expected to start on August 21) to all employees in the centre and the states in advance of the Eid.

Acting Minister of Finance Majdi Hasan Yasin pointed to the transfer of salary amounts and the Eid grant to the states to the commission for the allocation and control of revenues in the next two days to transfer them to different states.