SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Analyst: ‘Lifting of subsidies in Sudan leads to social, political instability’
In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Prof Hasan Bashir, an economist and Director of the Red Sea University, warned that the lifting of subsidies on basic commodities will lead to political, economic and social instability. Bashir also provided recommendations to avert the crisis.
Bashir said that the “irrational” and “dangerous” lifting of subsidies on petrol will culminate in higher inflation and collapsed purchasing power, given the low indicators of growth and savings, absence of social security systems and that most Sudanese live in extreme poverty and are reliant on government funding.
Bashir criticised the transitional governments slowness in addressing the hoarding of basic commodities by companies affiliated to Omar al-Bashir’s regime.
To solve the crisis, Bashir calls for public-private sector partnerships in production fields, and greater control of key export sectors such as oil seeds, cotton, gum Arabic, livestock and gold, with the proposed establishment of a gold exchange market.