Sudanese government seeks parliamentary approval for new round of subsidy cuts

December 7, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese minister of Finance Badr al-Din Mahmoud urged lawmakers to endorse his government’s plan to introduce new cuts to subsidies on flour, wheat, fuel and electricity in the 2016 budget.

Several hundreds of demonstrators were killed during nationwide protests in September 2013 after the government cut fuel subsidies in order to mitigate the financial downfall created by the secession of the oil-rich south in mid-2011.

Mahmoud said in remarks before the national assembly on Monday that over the past year 10.5 billion SDG pounds (USD $1.7 billion) were allocated to subsidies.

The curtailment of subsidies will enable the government to direct funds to other productive sectors to bring the country out of the current “economic bottleneck” and “distress” currently experienced by the Sudanese people, he said.

He stressed that the 2016 budget aims to reduce inflation and imports and direct more resources to agricultural production and boost non-oil revenue.

The minister urged the national and state legislative councils to lead a campaign to increase productivity and transform Sudan “from a consuming nation to a producing one”.

Mahmoud pledged to increase wages and pensions and widen social safety net to support the poor and improve living conditions, through the provision of basic goods and reducing of government expenditures.

The Sudanese pound has fallen against the dollar to a new low of 11.5 SDG in the black market compared an official rate of approximately 6 SDG thus increasing the prices of basic goods imported mostly from abroad.

(ST)