South Sudan pound hits record low against US dollar

JUBA — South Sudan’s local currency on Wednesday depreciated in a record low rate against the United States Dollar, several traders told Sudans Post.

One trader who requested not to be named said $1 was being traded at 550 South Sudan Pound during the early hours of Wednesday, and ended up at 585 during the evening hours.

“Currently, one US dollar is being sold at 585 South Sudanese Pound. In the morning, it was being sold at 550. I am talking about the black market, not the official rate,” one trader who requested not to be named said.

Another trader who also requested not to be identified said decisions by the central bank to silently raise the official rate has resulted in the hike of the price of the US dollar saying they expect the US dollar price, as well as that of other foreign currencies, to go up in the next few days.

“The government has decided that it raise the official rate everyday. The central bank had a different rate today than that of yesterday and this has raised concerns amongst the traders,” he said.

“We also expect that the price will go to an unprecedented rate in the next month if the government does not take measures need to combat this economic situation our country is going through,” he added.

CENTRAL BANK WARNING

Last June, the governor of central bank, Moses Makur Deng, predicted in a warning to the citizens that he expects the local currency depreciate further as results of external economic factors he said his institution cannot control.

Makur said in a statement dated June 2022 that the conflict in Ukraine has contributed to the economic downtrend in South Sudan as well as in neighboring countries that have direct economic dealings with invading Russia and Ukraine.

“The war in Ukraine has been a major shock for global commodity markets. South Sudan’s oil revenues are increasing and the country is not directly dependent on imports of grain from Ukraine and Russia,” Makur said.

“But we are still seeing rising prices of refined petroleum products and food items which are imported from our regional countries. These developments are expected to contribute to a rise in inflation in the coming months,” he added.