A market in Khartoum, Sudan, on May 4, 2019, weeks after long-time dictator Omar Al Bashir was removed. Reuters
A market in Khartoum, Sudan, on May 4, 2019, weeks after long-time dictator Omar Al Bashir was removed. Reuters
A market in Khartoum, Sudan, on May 4, 2019, weeks after long-time dictator Omar Al Bashir was removed. Reuters
A market in Khartoum, Sudan, on May 4, 2019, weeks after long-time dictator Omar Al Bashir was removed. Reuters

Sudan slashes value of pound in desperate bid to secure foreign currency


Hamza Hendawi
  • English
  • Arabic

Sudan floated its embattled currency on Sunday, devaluing the pound by about 85 per cent to attract more foreign currency through official channels. The move aimed to close the gap between official and parallel market rates.

The Central Bank of Sudan said the dollar will be officially traded at 375 pounds per US dollar under a policy designed to “unify” the exchange rates.

It described the new rate as “indicative,” instructing commercial banks and exchange bureaus to sell and buy dollars within 5 per cent of the new rate, which will be set daily. The profit margin for trading dollars was set at 0.5 per cent, it said.

The official exchange rate on the eve of the  valuation on Sunday stood at 55 Sudanese pounds per US dollar, but the currency had been unofficially trading at about 375 to 400 to the dollar. The situation means that dollars needed to import basic consumer items remain outside the formal banking system.

The move is part of reforms undertaken by the transitional government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to overhaul the country’s battered economy after decades of neglect.

Sudanese shop owners wait for customers at a bazaar in Khartoum, Sudan, June 24, 2019. Reuters
Sudanese shop owners wait for customers at a bazaar in Khartoum, Sudan, June 24, 2019. Reuters

The government has already lifted state subsidies on fuel and signed a peace deal with some rebel groups last October, in the hope of reducing defence spending.

But Sudanese analysts said the flotation was unlikely to bring the government the results it is looking for, warning that instead, it could send inflation to new highs.

Annual inflation was already running to more than 300 per cent in January, compounding the country’s economic woe.

“The state of the economy is very fragile and the flotation is fraught with risks,” said one analyst, Abdul Qassim Ibrahim.

He said Sudan had few resources at hand to defend the pound against the dollar, and low productivity in almost all sectors.

“The flotation of the pound, while allowing commercial banks to trade in the dollar, will cause a surge in demand for foreign currencies that the government cannot satisfy,” he said.

Another analyst, Hamza Awadallah, echoed the sentiment.

“Where will the government find foreign currency in amounts sufficient to meet demand defend the pound?” he said. “It has two options, both of which are inadequate: exports and foreign loans.”

Sudan was removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism in December.

The move paves the way for the country to engage with the International Monetary Fund and other agencies to provide much-needed access to external funding. But tangible results have yet to appear and Khartoum has been hit in recent weeks by demonstrations against severe bread and fuel shortages. Annual inflation soared to 304 per cent earlier this month, among the highest in the world.

Sudan’s economy had been shrinking for the two years before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The IMF estimated gross domestic product last year would contract by 8.4 per cent. It is the biggest annual contraction since 2011, when the secession of South Sudan took away most of the country’s oil revenue.

The fund forecasts a gradual recovery, with growth of 0.8 per cent this year and 1.4 per cent in 2022.

Sudan is at a delicate transitional phase since the removal of long-time dictator Omar Al Bashir in April 2019. The current administration brings together military and pro-democracy groups behind the uprising against the former leader’s 29-year rule.

Two weeks ago, the prime minister reshuffled his Cabinet to include representatives of rebel groups with whom the government signed a peace deal in October.

A prominent rebel leader from the Darfur region, Jibril Ibrahim, was named as the country’s new finance minister.

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Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

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Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

RESULTS

Bantamweight: Victor Nunes (BRA) beat Azizbek Satibaldiev (KYG). Round 1 KO

Featherweight: Izzeddin Farhan (JOR) beat Ozodbek Azimov (UZB). Round 1 rear naked choke

Middleweight: Zaakir Badat (RSA) beat Ercin Sirin (TUR). Round 1 triangle choke

Featherweight: Ali Alqaisi (JOR) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (UZB). Round 1 TKO

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Catchweight 74kg: Mirafzal Akhtamov (UZB) beat Marcos Costa (BRA). Split decision

Welterweight: Andre Fialho (POR) beat Sang Hoon-yu (KOR). Round 1 TKO

Lightweight: John Mitchell (IRE) beat Arbi Emiev (RUS). Round 2 RSC (deep cuts)

Middleweight: Gianni Melillo (ITA) beat Mohammed Karaki (LEB)

Welterweight: Handesson Ferreira (BRA) beat Amiran Gogoladze (GEO). Unanimous decision

Flyweight (Female): Carolina Jimenez (VEN) beat Lucrezia Ria (ITA), Round 1 rear naked choke

Welterweight: Daniel Skibinski (POL) beat Acoidan Duque (ESP). Round 3 TKO

Lightweight: Martun Mezhlumyan (ARM) beat Attila Korkmaz (TUR). Unanimous decision

Bantamweight: Ray Borg (USA) beat Jesse Arnett (CAN). Unanimous decision

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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  • Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
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  • Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
  • Submit their request
What are the regulations?
  • Fly it within visual line of sight
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Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters

The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.

 Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.

A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.

The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.

The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.

Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.

Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment

But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.

Asia Cup 2018 final

Who: India v Bangladesh

When: Friday, 3.30pm, Dubai International Stadium

Watch: Live on OSN Cricket HD

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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5