US Dollar rate rises sharply on the streets of Sudan

The buying price for the US Dollar rose sharply on the Sudanese parallel market on Tuesday, while the prices of basic commodities continues to rise in the country.

Street forex traders told Radio Dabanga that the greenback is trading at SDG 72 for cash, and SDG 77 for cheques.

A resident of Port Sudan, capital of Red Sea state, told Radio Dabanga that the price of a 50kg sack of sugar rose by SDG 200 to SDG 1,650. A 20kg sack of lentils went up by SDG 250 to SDG 1,200, and a 20kg sack of rice by SDG 350 to SDG 1,200.

He complained that he now has to pay SDG 650 ($14.45*) for two litres of milk.

According to the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA), a number of foreign exchange traders have attributed the recent rise in foreign currency rates against the Sudanese pound, particularly the US dollar, to the recent political change and the absence of political solutions resulting in formation of a government to stabilise the country. Currency traders, expect prices to continue rising.

A number of economists attributed the fluctuation of the exchange rate to the government's decision to liberalize the exchange rate of the pound in banks, pointing out that the issuance of the central bank to the currency denomination of 1000 pounds will raise inflation rates if not covered and will lead to further deterioration of the local currency.

Economic Expert Dr Abdelazim El Mahl revealed that the instability of the exchange rate returned to the continued imbalance of payments, the deterioration of the value of the Sudanese pound, which resulted in the rise of commodity prices and the inflation rates. 

* As effective foreign exchange rates can vary in Sudan, Radio Dabanga bases all SDG currency conversions on the daily US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS)

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