US Dollar hits 19 Sudanese Pounds

The price of the US Dollar has increased to SDG19 yesterday, compared to 18.4 Sudanese Pounds last week. Traders said they expect the dollar price to drop in the event the United States decide to indefinitely lift financial sanctions that were imposed on Sudan.

The increase may be attributable to the lack of supply of hard currencies in the black market, a trader said, during the increased demand because of the procedures for the annual pilgrimage (Hajj) that are starting.

On Monday, the director of foreign exchange at the Central Bank of Sudan, Noureldin Mohamed Suleiman said in a statement that the bank continues to provide foreign currency at an official price for tourism and medical treatment abroad.

He told the Sudanese News Agency (Suna) that the Central Bank has not stopped foreign exchange supplies for these purposes. “The money is provided through various banks, including the Islamic Solidarity Bank, the Livestock Bank and the Sudanese-French Bank.”

In November, the Central Bank introduced an incentive policy, which increased the exchange rate in commercial banks by 131 percent. As a result, the exchange rate of the US Dollar in banks has risen to SDG 15.8 from the official rate of SDG 6.5, but this action has not stopped the rise of the U.S. Dollar against the pound in the parallel market.

Last October the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest report on Sudan that Sudan's foreign exchange reserves have already fallen to half a month’s worth of imports.

The Sudanese Pound has greatly lost value since the secession of South Sudan in 2011, which pushed inflation to record levels as Sudan imports most of its food.