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Sudanese Pound Falls to Record Low on Black Market

Sudan's new currency sits behind a window at the central bank in Khartoum, Sudan. (AP)
Sudan's new currency sits behind a window at the central bank in Khartoum, Sudan. (AP)
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Sudanese Pound Falls to Record Low on Black Market

Sudan's new currency sits behind a window at the central bank in Khartoum, Sudan. (AP)
Sudan's new currency sits behind a window at the central bank in Khartoum, Sudan. (AP)

Sudan’s pound fell to a record low on the black market, traders said on Monday.

The dollar was selling for 100 Sudanese pounds in cash transactions compared to 88 pounds a week ago, as the gap with the official rate of 45 to the dollar continues to widen.

The country’s ruling sovereign council and cabinet agreed the budget in December - the first since the toppling of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir, whose final years in power were marked by deep economic woes.

The central bank has been printing Sudanese pounds equivalent to $200 million a month to buy and export gold to finance subsidized commodities, mainly fuel and wheat, which has led to “explosive inflation and near freefall of the exchange rate in the parallel market”, the finance ministry said in a 2020 budget statement in December.

Sudan’s economy was hit hard when the south of the country seceded in 2011, costing it three-quarters of its oil output, a crucial source of foreign currency.

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Türkiye's Central Bank Holds Rate at 50%, Warns on Inflation

People rest in a public park outdoors away from buildings following an earthquake in Malatya, southern Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (Burhan Karaduman/Dia Photo via AP)
People rest in a public park outdoors away from buildings following an earthquake in Malatya, southern Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (Burhan Karaduman/Dia Photo via AP)
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Türkiye's Central Bank Holds Rate at 50%, Warns on Inflation

People rest in a public park outdoors away from buildings following an earthquake in Malatya, southern Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (Burhan Karaduman/Dia Photo via AP)
People rest in a public park outdoors away from buildings following an earthquake in Malatya, southern Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (Burhan Karaduman/Dia Photo via AP)

Türkiye's central bank held interest rates at 50% on Thursday as expected but cautioned that recent data had lifted inflation uncertainty, in a hawkish signal ahead of an expected easing cycle in coming months.
"In September, the underlying trend of inflation posted a slight increase," the bank's policy committee said, adding: "the uncertainty regarding the pace of improvement in inflation has increased in light of incoming data."
According to Reuters, analysts said the message could reinforce the view that the bank will wait until around January to ease monetary policy, after a more than year-long effort to slay years of soaring inflation.
The last time the bank raised its main policy rate was in March, when it hiked by 500 basis points to round off an aggressive tightening cycle that started in June last year.
Since then, it has kept the one-week repo rate on hold. In a change of messaging last month, it began setting the stage for a rate cut by dropping a reference to potential further tightening.
Yet after monthly inflation was higher than expected at nearly 3% in September, a Reuters poll showed analysts expected the bank to wait until December or January to begin its anticipated easing cycle.
Nicholas Farr, economist at Capital Economics, said the bank signaled that the "slow pace of disinflation will prevent monetary easing this year.”
"It seems clear that the (central bank) – like us – doesn't think the conditions are in place for a monetary easing cycle to start very soon."
Annual inflation has dropped to 49.4% - below the policy rate for the first time in this cycle - from a peak of 75% in May.
The central bank is closely watching the monthly rate for signals of when to begin easing, though it has only dipped below 2% once this year, in June. It is also watching for high household inflation expectations to ease toward its targets.