Relief for Sudan’s poor to start in December as inflation tops 98.8%

Sudan’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Ibrahim El Badawi, has announced that the transitional government, together with the Friends of Sudan countries*, will start the Financial Support for the Poor Families Project in mid-December.  The annual inflation rate in Sudan reached 98.81 per cent in April.

During an interview with Sudan TV on Thursday, El Badawi explained that the Poor Families Project is a strategic one that aims to cover 70 per cent of the Sudanese population. He said that the project is designed to grant SDG 500** monthly to each individual in the target group.

El Badawi pointed out that 65 per cent of Sudanese live below the poverty line. He stated that the Red Sea state is the poorest state in Sudan, followed by the Blue Nile, South Kordofan, and the five states of Darfur, as well as West Kordofan.

“For the accuracy of information, we will rely on the government institutions to identify the target groups,” he said. “This formula has been applied in Kenya, Chile, and a number of countries.”

Inflation rate

The Central Bank of Sudan reported that the annual inflation rate in Sudan reached 98.81 per cent in April, compared to 81.64 per cent in March. Rural areas are the hardest hit.

The increase was attributed to rise of the prices of all components of "the food and beverage group", the most important of which are oils, fats, bread, grains, meat, vegetables, milk, cheese, and sugar, in addition to the rise in "the housing group" due to the high prices of of cooking gas, charcoal, firewood, and in "the transportation group" because of the high fuel prices.

The reports say that the urban inflation rate was 86.71 per cent in April, while it was 66.83 per cent in March. Inflation in the rural areas recorded 107.82 per cent in April 2020, compared to 93.26 per cent in March.

* The Friends of Sudan group includes African Development Bank, Canada, Egypt, European Union, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, The Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Nations, United States, and the World Bank.

** USD 1 = SDG 55.1375 at time of publishing. As effective foreign exchange rates can vary in Sudan, Radio Dabanga bases all SDG currency conversions on the daily US Dollar middle rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS).

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