Price of Sudanese pound slips on parallel market amid political uncertainty

KHARTOUM: The value of Sudan’s currency fell by more than 3% to 465 pounds to the dollar on the black market on Sunday, traders said, as demand for dollars surged amid continuing political uncertainty following a coup in October.

The Sudanese pound had mostly stabilised in recent months after being sharply devalued in February 2021 as part of economic reforms carried out by a transitional government and monitored by the International Monetary Fund.

Military leaders dissolved the government in the coup before bringing back Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in an attempt to protect the reforms, but he resigned earlier this month.

“People are buying dollars to protect their assets, fearing a deterioration of the situation in the country and there’s big demand,” said one trader in the capital Khartoum.

Dollars had been selling for about 450 pounds last week. The gap between the parallel market and official exchange rates had mostly been negligible in the past few months.

Last week the United Nations began consultations to try to break a deadlock between military leaders and pro-democracy civilian groups and avert the risk of further instability.

Before the coup, Sudan’s economy was showing signs of steadying after years of economic crisis that triggered the uprising which toppled autocratic former leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019.