Khartoum bread crisis caused by Central Bank of Sudan

The bread crisis that continues in Khartoum is caused by the policies of the Central Bank. Due to lack of hard currency there is only 25 per cent of the 1,000 tons wheat flour in stock.The finance minister of Khartoum State, Sadig Mohamed Ali El Sheikh told the Legislative Council that Sudan does not have enough cash required for the import of wheat flour. He questioned also the productivity of the country’s agricultural sector to provide food security. “A major disaster will occur when the bread crisis is not solved within three days”, said the Secretary General of the Federation of Bakeries, Adil Mirghani. He appealed to the Central Bank of Sudan to solve the problem of providing hard currency credits for the import of wheat flour.Mirghani spoke yesterday (Monday) at a seminar about the future of the Sudanese economy, organised by the Federation of Chambers of Industry.He said that the bakeries received less than half of the consumers demand. Saud El Bireir, head of the Workers Union,  accused “certain institutions” to monopolise the wheat flour trade.File photo (bnaidarfur.org)Related: Severe bread shortage in Sudan: bakeries close in Khartoum (18 November 2013)