Sudan Inflation Slows in Feb to 258.40%

A man waits to buy food at a market in Khartoum. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
A man waits to buy food at a market in Khartoum. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
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Sudan Inflation Slows in Feb to 258.40%

A man waits to buy food at a market in Khartoum. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
A man waits to buy food at a market in Khartoum. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Sudan’s annual inflation slowed to 258.40% in February, from 259.8% in January, the statistics bureau said on Tuesday.

The Central Bureau of Statistics attributed the continued rise in prices to the price surge witnessed in February 2021.

The bureau said in a press statement that the monthly inflation rate of the general index of consumer and service prices recorded 14.39% during February 2022, compared to an average of 2.06% in January 2022.

The transportation group recorded the highest contribution rate to the monthly inflation rate, amounting to 87.13%, due to the rise in fuel prices.

The food and beverage group came next at 4%, followed by the total of household fixtures and equipment and routine maintenance work at 3.07%, due to the rise in the prices of cement and other household maintenance equipment.

The rate pf housing, water, electricity, gas, and other types of fuel group recorded 1.84%, due to a rise in electricity tariff and gas prices, in addition to a group of various goods and services at 1.26%.



Iraq Says Iran Used Forged Iraqi Documents on Oil Tankers, Tehran Denies

FILE PHOTO: A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi//File Photo
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Iraq Says Iran Used Forged Iraqi Documents on Oil Tankers, Tehran Denies

FILE PHOTO: A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A gas flare on an oil production platform is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Gulf July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi//File Photo

Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani has said told state television that Iranian oil tankers stopped by US forces in the Gulf were using forged Iraqi documents.

US President Donald Trump's administration has restored his earlier "maximum pressure" policy on Iran, reviving a policy that seeks to isolate the country from the global economy and eliminate its oil export revenue in order to slow Tehran's development of a nuclear weapon.

"We received some verbal inquiries about oil tankers being detained in the Gulf by US naval forces carrying Iraqi shipping manifests," Abdel-Ghani said on state television late on Sunday, adding there had been no formal written communication.

"It turned out that these tankers were Iranian ... and were using forged Iraqi documents. We explained this to the relevant authorities with complete transparency and they also confirmed this."

Iran's oil ministry on Monday denied that Tehran had used forged official documents and said allegations that they had done so came from US officials, the ministry's Shana news agency reported.

"It's obvious that these allegations by US officials fold into the illegal... pressure on the nation of Iran and have no basis or credibility," Shana said.

Iran views neighbor and ally Iraq as vital to keeping its economy afloat while under sanctions. But Baghdad, a partner to both Washington and Tehran, is wary of being caught in the crosshairs of Trump's policy to squeeze Iran, sources have said.

Reuters reported in December that a sophisticated fuel oil smuggling network that experts believe generates at least $1 billion a year for Iran and its proxies has flourished in Iraq in the past few years, including by using forged documentation.

Abdel-Ghani said state marketer SOMO sold crude exclusively to companies that own refineries and does not supply trading firms.

"SOMO operates with full transparency and has committed no wrongdoing in the oil export process," he said.