World Bank official urges Sudan to reform banking system

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 9, 2005 (PANA) — Sudan should urgently reform its banking system and reduce military spending in
favour of social development, an official of the World
Bank said here Wednesday.

Ishac Diwan, World Bank Country Director for Sudan and
Ethiopia said Khartoum was spending so much on the military
and with more resources benefiting the elite at the expense
of the majority.

He did not give figures, but counselled: “Move the money away
from the military and support for the elite to the poor.”

“We need the development of a payment system in the South and
the banking infrastructure in the North needs urgent reforms,”
Diwan told PANA in the Kenyan capital.

Sudan authorities were said to be working to create a
dual banking system in the North and the South, with the
commercial banks in the South charging interests for
transactions while those in the North do not.

“The kind of private sector leadership such as the ones the
Southern Sudan is interested in are key elements in the
financial controls and reforms,” the World Bank official said.

Meanwhile, he praised the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement
(SPLM) for promoting private investments to accelerate
economic growth in the South.

“Southern Sudan is going to be one of the richest governments
in East Africa. It is attracting investments and there is an
increase in the number of interested banking institutions, although
it is too early to judge the situation or determine whether the
prospective investors are willing to put in the money,” Diwan
noted.

He also said the plan by German investors to build a 2,500-km rail
network to Southern Sudan was important for infrastructure
development, but stressed that it was still too early to determine
the investment climate in South Sudan.

“There is a corruption perception especially in oil-rich nations
where oil revenues never really serve the interests of the nation,”
Diwan said. “Sudan must ensure that there is no corruption perception
in any of its institutions.”