World Bank Provides $2Bn Grant to Sudan

 Sudan seeks to enhance business environment to attract investments (AFP)
Sudan seeks to enhance business environment to attract investments (AFP)
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World Bank Provides $2Bn Grant to Sudan

 Sudan seeks to enhance business environment to attract investments (AFP)
Sudan seeks to enhance business environment to attract investments (AFP)

Sudan’s Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim said the World Bank approved a $2 billion grant to be invested in development projects including water, agriculture, roads, education, and health.

In a televised interview on Sunday, Ibrahim said Khartoum is pressuring to receive part of the grant before the start of the WB’s fiscal year in early July to begin implementing its projects.

The WB’s International Development Association (IDA) provided the grant, which is expected to create more jobs, increase production, and raise the country’s GDP from $31 billion to $310 billion.

Khartoum aims to expand job opportunities in the agricultural sector and allocate estimated sums to education and health, Hegazy explained.

The government is currently focusing on developing the infrastructure, increasing electric power, and repairing and expanding roads, he noted.

The guarantees given to the private sector through partnerships enable the financing of large projects in all economic fields, the minister revealed.

Ibrahim expected billions of dollars to be pumped in Sudan's market through investments.

“There is a chance to attain a major boom in production and exports and fill the trade balance deficit through projects in the fields of human development, infrastructure, livestock, agriculture, and mining.”

Economic reforms carried out by the government have already been reviewed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and now a decision is expected to be issued soon on canceling the country’s external debts.

Sudan, where long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019 amid a popular uprising, is enacting sweeping reforms to turn around an economy wrecked by decades of corruption, mismanagement, and sanctions.

It seeks relief on more than $50 billion in external debt as creditors exert efforts to push the process forward. Sudan also made understandings with the Paris Club creditors, of whom France, Austria, and the United States are the largest.



Oil Prices Ease as Markets Weigh China Stimulus Hopes

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
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Oil Prices Ease as Markets Weigh China Stimulus Hopes

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Oil edged lower on Thursday in light holiday trade as the dollar's strength offset hopes for additional fiscal stimulus in China, the world's biggest oil importer.

Brent crude futures settled down 32 cents, or 0.43%, at $73.26 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $69.62, down 0.68%, or 48 cents, from Tuesday's pre-Christmas settlement.

Chinese authorities have agreed to issue 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) worth of special treasury bonds next year, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two sources, as Beijing ramps up fiscal stimulus to revive a faltering economy.

"Injecting a stimulus into a nation's economy creates increased demand, and increased demand pushes prices higher," said Tim Snyder, chief economist at Matador Economics, Reuters reported.

The World Bank on Thursday raised its forecast for China's economic growth in 2024 and 2025, but warned that subdued household and business confidence, along with headwinds in the property sector, would keep weighing it down next year.

The US dollar continued to edge up higher after hitting a milestone last week. A stronger dollar makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.

The latest weekly report on US inventories, from the American Petroleum Institute industry group, showed crude stocks fell last week by 3.2 million barrels, market sources said on Tuesday.

Traders will be waiting to see if the official inventory report from the Energy Information Administration confirms the decline. The EIA data is due at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) on Friday, later than normal because of the Christmas holiday.

Analysts in a Reuters poll expect crude inventories fell by about 1.9 million barrels in the week to Dec. 20, while gasoline and distillate inventories are seen falling by 1.1 million barrels and 0.3 million barrels respectively.

Elsewhere, southbound traffic in Turkey's Bosphorus Strait was set to resume on Thursday, having been halted earlier in the day after a tanker suffered an engine failure, shipping agent Tribeca said.