Sudan hands out cash to ease economic crunch

KHARTOUM: Sudan has begun distributing cash handouts under an internationally backed plan to help millions cope with an economic crisis aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic, recipients and the authorities said.

The stimulus is funded from $1.8 billion pledged by 40 countries at a conference last month in Germany as the African nation transitions from three decades of rule under now-ousted autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

"The programme is based on supporting 80 percent of the country's population with direct cash support from the state," Essam Abbas, director of the finance ministry's digital transformation agency, told AFP.