Editorial:Weak Growth Prospects for Sudanese Economy

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recent report the Sudanese economy will grow modestly this year as a result of fiscal and monetary tightening, despite a rebound in agriculture and oil sectors as inflation is expected to drop sharply to 18 percent compared to 41.9 percent in 2013.

The IMF warned that the government’s continued dependence on the Central Bank to finance its budget deficit has fueled inflation and weakened the monetary policy framework.
 

The report also underscored the need to bridge the gap between the official and black market exchange rate which was estimated to stand at 35 percent.
 

This gap, which stands currently at 35 percent and reflects insufficient availability of foreign exchange in the banking system, is driven by weak economic fundamentals, including a large current account deficit, low level of international reserves, and continued monetisation of the budget deficit, albeit at lower volumes.
 

However, Sudan has suffered significant setbacks during the past three years on account of the secession of South Sudan in July 2011
 

After Sudan lost the oil revenue, a great economic crisis emerged in the budget resulting in an apparent shortage in foreign currency.
 

The Ministry of Finance and National Economy failed up to this moment in filling the gap of oil revenue deprivation and the officials are running the economy on a day-to-day basis.
 

The Minister of Finance and National economy said last week that the economy of Sudan is steadily progressing, while the reality is on the contrary.
 

Our message to the Minister is that the political slogans cannot pay off and the government should admit the failure and start reviewing its policies through consulting experts in this field.
 

The alternatives of oil could be agriculture and Gum Arabic exportation; but the problem of the Sudanese economy is the absence of strategic and systematic planning.
 

The absence of systematic and strategic planning is the reason for the current economic deterioration and the rise of dollar exchange which is inching to SDG10.
 

We propose organising a specialised workshop to study the reasons for the Sudanese pound’s decline against the dollar to come out with practical resolutions.
 

We believe that the main reason for the devaluation of the Sudanese pound is that we have become a consuming state for everything as we import even garlic and the hot peppers, which we used to plant on the cliffs, but are now imported from China.
 

It is high time an economic conference was organised with participation by our international monetary figures and experts to resolve the issue of the Sudanese pound’s devaluation.