KHARTOUM: Sudan’s Ministry of Finance and National Economy said the average inflation rate has declined to 12, 4% in the first quarter of 2016 compared to 23, 4% during the same period of 2015. According to the ministry’s report on the first quarter of the 2016 budget which has been approved by the cabinet on Thursday, the inflation rate reached 12, 44% in January, 12, 94 in February, 11, 7% in March and 12, 85% in April.
The report pointed that the average exchange rate of the US dollar in the banks has reached 6,1 Sudanese pounds (SDG) in the first quarter compared to 6,00 pounds in the same period of 2015. Price of the US dollar has witnessed significant increase in the black market in Khartoum since last April settling at 13, 8 pounds (SDG). The official dollar exchange rate stated by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) is around 6.4 SDG.
The report said the ministry applied a set of measures to curb the rise in dollar price including allowing private sector entities to import oil products and industrial and agricultural inputs without transferring dollars via the banking system. It pointed that the balance of payment surplus has reached $21, 5 million during the first quarter of 2016 compared to $7, 3 million for the same period of 2015 while the deficit in the trade balance reached $1, 000, 7 trillion compared to $773,8 million in 2015. According to the report, Sudan’s exports during the first quarter of 2016 have reached $676 million while the imports for the same period were $1, 676, 7 trillion.
The report attributed the deficit in the trade balance to the decline in the price of exports particularly gold and oil. Balance of payments is the overall record of all economic transactions of a country with the rest of the world. Balance of trade, on the other hand, is the difference in the value of exports and imports of only visible items (i.e. goods). Sudan’s economy was hit hard since the southern part of the country declared independence in July 2011, taking with it about 75% of the country’s oil output.
