Sudan forms crisis cell as pound crashes to record low

August 31, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s government set up an emergency task force on Monday to halt the plunge of the national currency after the pound hit an all-time low of 6,600 to the U.S. dollar on the parallel market.

The currency’s freefall accelerated after the Central Bank of Sudan granted commercial lenders more leeway to set rates and buy export earnings, driving inflation higher and worsening living conditions across the war-torn country.

The National Economic Management Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Kamel Idris, formed the crisis cell under Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim to deploy emergency fiscal and monetary measures, government spokesperson Graham Abdel Qader told reporters.

The cabinet also ordered audits of corporate registries and commercial agencies, warning that non-compliant firms and fronts involved in illicit trade would be struck off.

Separately, a ministerial panel chaired by Defence Minister Lt. Gen. Hassan Dawood Kabron convened to clamp down on black-market currency trading, trade-related fraud, and gold smuggling.

The panel, comprising the ministers of finance and justice, the central bank governor, and state security chiefs, plans to submit proposals to the transitional government for strict enforcement measures to curb illicit financial flows draining foreign currency reserves.

Sudan’s economy has been devastated by more than three years of conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has wrecked infrastructure, halted most formal exports, and pushed millions into extreme poverty.