SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan faces fuel crisis and worsening cash crunch

4/5/19: Reuters – Sudan faces fuel crisis and worsening cash crunch , by Khalid Abdelaziz

 Reuters reports that Sudan is facing a pre-Ramadan fuel crisis and a worsening cash crunch. Cars queued at almost every petrol station in Khartoum on Saturday as motorists waited for fuel for several hours. Soldiers manned the stations to ensure order.

 At least a dozen ATMs in a commercial area in central Khartoum had no cash. A Reuters witness counted 88 customers in one line on a main road in central Khartoum.

 Queues had previously been shorter and more ATMs held cash. The maximum daily withdrawal has long been set at 2,000 Sudanese pounds ($45). Some have set up several bank accounts to try to circumvent the limit.

 Omar Al Bashir’s government had run up enormous budget deficits by subsidising fuel, bread and other products. To cover the deficit, it expanded the money supply.