US dollar price still rises against Sudan pound

Approaching nine pounds, the price of the US dollar against the Sudanese pound rose to 8.85 SDG on Thursday in the parallel market in Khartoum. Economists and traders in the parallel (black) market for foreign currency in downtown Khartoum have attributed the rise in the dollar price to strained relations between Khartoum and Juba, and the concern over the stop of oil supplies. The dollar was already stabilised at a price of 8.22 SDG against the backdrop of a deposit by Qatar to the Central Bank of Sudan in March this year. However, it soon began to rise again. Doubts were raised about the deposit as the second instalment of the Government of Qatar. One US dollar was selling for 8.5 SDG on 24 March compared to 8.2 at the end of February. The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Sudanese pound in the black market inched higher over concerns related to the foreign banks’ boycott, traders said in March this year. Saudi Arabian banks as well as some European financial institutions suspended their dealings with Sudan as of 28 February. Sudan has suffered economic hardship and decline in the price of the local currency after the cessation of the southern part of the country in the year 2011. It led to the public treasury’s loss of the oil revenues, constituting two-thirds of the state budget. File photo: US dollars inside a Khartoum money exchange (SudanTribune) Related: Emirates, Saudi Arabia halt some imports from Sudan (17 March 2014) US Dollar price rises on Sudan’s black market (5 January 2014)