SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan devalues currency to meet key condition for debt relief
Reuters reports that Sudan’s central bank devalued the currency, announcing a new regime to “unify” official and black-market exchange rates. The change is a key reform demanded by foreign donors and the IMF, but was delayed for months amid shortages of basic goods and rapid inflation.
Steps were taken to streamline imports of strategic commodities and limit imports of non-essential goods ahead of the devaluation, officials said. Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim said Sudan’s customs exchange rate was not included in the devaluation and its reform was under study.
As well as paving the way for debt relief, the devaluation would help stabilise the currency, reduce smuggling and speculation, and attract remittances from Sudanese working overseas, the central bank said. Some economists said they expected the impact of devaluation on inflation to be limited because almost all transactions were already being carried out at the black market rate.