Sudanese Pound Devalued by 19% as Banks Freed to Set Rates

Sudanese authorities have decided to unify the exchange rate of the Sudanese pound, weeks after the currency’s value began to slip again on the black market. (Getty Images)
Sudanese authorities have decided to unify the exchange rate of the Sudanese pound, weeks after the currency’s value began to slip again on the black market. (Getty Images)
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Sudanese Pound Devalued by 19% as Banks Freed to Set Rates

Sudanese authorities have decided to unify the exchange rate of the Sudanese pound, weeks after the currency’s value began to slip again on the black market. (Getty Images)
Sudanese authorities have decided to unify the exchange rate of the Sudanese pound, weeks after the currency’s value began to slip again on the black market. (Getty Images)

Sudanese banks were selling dollars at a rate of 530 pounds on Tuesday, a drop of about 19% from the previous rate, after authorities moved to counter a slide in the value of the pound on a resurgent black market.

The central bank said on Monday that banks and currency exchanges would set their own exchange rates without central bank intervention. An emergency economic committee under Sudan's ruling council had said official and black market exchange rates would be unified.

Both the Bank of Khartoum, Sudan's largest bank, and the Saudi Sudanese Bank, had set a rate of 530 pounds to the dollar on Tuesday morning, from about 445 pounds previously, a Reuters reporter said. Other banks set similar rates.

The dollar was trading at around 560 pounds on the parallel market.

Sudan's economy has come under renewed pressure since substantial international support was suspended following a military coup in late October.

The military dissolved a civilian government that had carried out rapid economic reforms, including a sharp devaluation of the pound under a "managed float" policy in February 2021.

After that devaluation, the exchange rate had held steady for several months, and the black market had all but disappeared before it began to resurface in recent weeks.



Saudi Arabia Plans Promotion Campaign in Kuwait

The Saudi Export Development Authority’s pavilion at an exhibition (Export Development Authority website)
The Saudi Export Development Authority’s pavilion at an exhibition (Export Development Authority website)
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Saudi Arabia Plans Promotion Campaign in Kuwait

The Saudi Export Development Authority’s pavilion at an exhibition (Export Development Authority website)
The Saudi Export Development Authority’s pavilion at an exhibition (Export Development Authority website)

The Saudi Export Development Authority is scheduled to begin a promotion campaign in Kuwait from September 29 until October 1 as part of a broader strategy to enhance national service export opportunities through targeted market access tours.
According to the Authority, the tour will feature a series of visits for leading national companies across various sectors, including logistics services, communications and information technology, consulting, and medical services.
These companies will showcase their offerings to both government and private entities in Kuwait, fostering increased trade between the two nations.
The tour is also expected to bolster the presence of Saudi non-oil products and services in the Kuwaiti market, where Saudi exports exceeded 3.7 billion Saudi rial ($986.36 million) in the first half of 2024.
Saudi Exports spokesman Thamer Al-Meshrafi said that through the tour in the Kuwaiti market, the Authority aims to establish links between the Saudi exporters and the Kuwaiti importers and facilitate mechanisms of the non-oil exports to Kuwait.
Al-Meshrafi added that the overall Saudi service experts in 2023 hit 182 billion riyals ($479 million), rising by 40% as compared to the previous year.
Several prominent national companies from the services sector will participate in the tour alongside representatives from four government agencies: the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority; the Digital Government Authority; the Transport General Authority; and the Saudi Contractors Authority.