Bread Crisis in Sudan Hindering Government Efforts

A Sudanese man works at a bakery in the capital Khartoum on Friday. (AFP)
A Sudanese man works at a bakery in the capital Khartoum on Friday. (AFP)
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Bread Crisis in Sudan Hindering Government Efforts

A Sudanese man works at a bakery in the capital Khartoum on Friday. (AFP)
A Sudanese man works at a bakery in the capital Khartoum on Friday. (AFP)

Bread lines remain a familiar scene in the main streets of Khartoum, although the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning announced that it was increasing subsidies of a sack of flour from 100 to 250 Sudanese pounds (around USD14).

A Russian ship loaded with wheat had already arrived in Port Sudan.

Sudan has been witnessing a crisis in providing wheat to bakeries for a month now due to the scarcity of foreign monetary resources in the Central Bank of Sudan (CBS), which was forced to resort to commercial banks to fulfill the country’s needs of essential products, such as wheat and fuel.

The ministry demanded that bakeries increase their daily production to exceed 100,000 sacks to cover the needs of the capital and other states.

The security authorities and popular forces called for taking precautions to maintain the subsidized wheat and prevent smuggling.

Tariq Shalabi, State Minister at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, said that the country seeks to provide bread given that it is a strategic product that is linked to the lives of citizens.

He pointed out that the past period saw several policies to resolve this crisis.



GASTAT: Saudi Industrial Production Index Up 2.0% in March 2025

GASTAT released on Sunday its Industrial Production Index (IPI) for March 2025
GASTAT released on Sunday its Industrial Production Index (IPI) for March 2025
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GASTAT: Saudi Industrial Production Index Up 2.0% in March 2025

GASTAT released on Sunday its Industrial Production Index (IPI) for March 2025
GASTAT released on Sunday its Industrial Production Index (IPI) for March 2025

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) released on Sunday its Industrial Production Index (IPI) for March 2025, revealing a 2.0% increase in the overall index compared to March 2024.
According to the data, manufacturing activities recorded a significant growth of 5.1% on an annual basis, and the index of water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities also increased by 15.0%.
The mining and quarrying activity saw a slight decrease of 0.2%, and the electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply index also declined by 0.9%.
The IPI for main economic activities showed a modest 0.5% rise in the oil activities index, while non-oil activities recorded a substantial increase of 5.6% compared to March 2024.
GASTAT issues the IPI monthly to measure relative changes in the volume of industrial output. The index is calculated based on the industrial production survey, which samples establishments in key industrial sectors including mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation.