Central Bank of Sudan restricts flow of foreign currency

The Central Bank of Sudan issued a circular yesterday, amending the controls followed in the feeding and use of free accounts in foreign currency. By virtue of this circular, the Bank of Sudan prohibited replenishing free accounts with foreign currency through cash supply. The Central Bank also prohibited the use of customers’ own resources (foreign exchange free accounts) to import goods.

This comes within the framework of the Bank of Sudan’s policies to contain the continuous deterioration of the Sudanese Pound against foreign currencies by reducing the demand for foreign currencies from the parallel market, as described by a large number of economic experts.

A banking expert, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, told Radio Dabanga that the central bank is retrying the experimenter given that these policies have been applied more than once, but have not led to the desired results. He added that the large trade deficit is the main reason for this situation, especially in light of the war, where imports are expanding to provide military equipment and fuel and exports are shrinking as a result of the decline in agricultural and industrial production.

The banking expert called on the Central Bank to work on returning export earnings that remain outside Sudan, which contributes to weakening the purchasing power of the Sudanese Pound, especially in light of the erosion of foreign exchange and gold reserves deposited with the Bank of Sudan. The expert noted that only 60% of gold exports are made through official channels and that it is better to control gold exports through informal channels because they achieve higher returns.

The banking expert went on to say that the issuance of such a publication is an early indication of the ineffectiveness of the decision to replace the 1000 and 500 bills, one of whose main objectives was to reduce the money mass in circulation, a large part of which is used to buy foreign currency.

Identify areas of real estate financing

On January 26, the Central Bank of Sudan issued a circular containing the guidelines for granting bank financing for the year 2025, and the circular allowed financing real estate construction provided that the land is owned by the customer requesting financing.

The circular specified the areas of real estate financing in the construction of hospitals, health facilities, schools, universities, and popular and factional housing through financing portfolios for this purpose through the National Fund for Housing and Development.

The circular directed banks to finance the improvement and maintenance of shelter within the limits of microfinance, the construction of pharmaceutical factories and production lines, the purchase of equipment and equipment for the pharmaceutical industry locally, and the construction of silos, warehouses and gins in production areas.

The circular also allowed financing the purchase of cars, trucks, rickshaws, tricycles, and buses.