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FILE
- An official leaves after a news conference presenting
Sudan’s
new currency at the Central Bank headquarters in
Khartoum
July 16, 2011
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Foreign exchange (Forex) bureaus in Sudan
will be able to buy and sell currencies using their own exchange rate away from
the official one, it was announced today.
The privately owned Al-Shorooq TV on
its website quoted the deputy Secretary General of Forex bureaus union
Abdel-Moniem Nur al-Deen as saying that this decision was communicated to them
during a meeting with central bank officials.
Abdel-Moniem said that Forex bureaus
no longer have to abide by the official exchange rate and can now use the
market rate in their daily trading operations.
The move was taken in order to curb
the flourishing black market for hard currency and also to attract transfers by
Sudanese expatriates abroad, he added.
Sources told Al-Shorooq TV that the
central bank will soon allow commercial banks to do the same.
Since the secession of oil-rich South
Sudan, Sudan has struggled to contain the deteriorating value of its own
currency as the flow of hard currency was sharply curtailed.
The US dollar traded for twice the
official rate of 2.7 Sudanese pounds despite multiple interventions by the
central bank to inject hard currency into the market.
But because of the depleting Forex
reserves, the ability of the Central Bank of Sudan to influence the exchange
rate on the market has been limited.
Khartoum dispatched several
delegations to friendly nations, particularly Arab Gulf states, seeking help
but so far only Qatar has made a commitment of $2 billion, which will be used
to buy government bonds.
Last week, officials in Sudan’s
central bank announced that it has received a "large" transfer of
cash from an unnamed foreign source. They projected that this would soon
reflect in a 50% decrease in the exchange rate of the US dollar on the black
market.
Banks and Forex bureaus are only
allowed to sell a limited amount of hard currency to individuals and only if
they can provide a valid justification including travel for medical treatment
or studying abroad.
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