US Dollar reaches 20.2 Sudanese Pounds on ‘parallel market’

The US Dollar rate has broken the SDG 20 barrier on the streets of Khartoum.

Traders sold the Dollar for SDG 20.2 on Friday, a listener told Radio Dabanga two days after the US administration decided to postpone the definite lifting of its economic sanctions on Sudan for another three months.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Ibrahim Ghandour, said in a press conference on Thursday that the rise of the Dollar rate is a result of the currency traders’ exploitation of the US decision.

According to economic analyst Kamal Karrar however, the increase of the Dollar rate has nothing to do with the sanctions. “It is just another sign of the worsening economic situation in the country,” he told this station.

“It just confirms that the government policies are one big failure,” he said, and added that “a further steady rise of the Dollar against the Pound must be expected in the coming period”.

Sanctions

On Wednesday, Washington announced that it has postponed its decision whether or not to permanently revoke its economic sanctions on Sudan that were imposed in November 1997 after Sudan was accused of being a “state sponsor of terrorism”.

On 13 January this year, President Barack Obama suspended the sanctions for the period of six months in response to “sustained progress” on several fronts. The US administration would decide on 12 July whether Khartoum would have improved its performance concerning its military activities, access for humanitarian organisations to the needy in the country, support to the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the fight against terrorism, and support to the peace process in South Sudan.

‘Stability’

The official Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) reported on Thursday that the Ministry of Finance and National Economy will continue interacting with international and regional financial institutions “such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and other friendly funds”.

Finance Minister Gen. Mohamed El Rikabi said in a statement that Sudan will continue to interact with these financial institutions “to help achieve stability of the country's economy through attracting new investments for the production sectors, and work to write off Sudan's foreign debts”.

The governor of the Central Bank of Sudan, Hazim Abdelgadir, said in a press statement that the Bank will continue providing hard currency to cover obligations of export of strategic commodities (petroleum products, wheat and flour) and other commodities. It will also continue its commitment to external organisations, and the provision of hard currency for foreign exchange offices and banks, to cover the “needs for tourism and [medical] treatment”.