South Sudan to receive $15m grant for currency exchange

May 24, 2007 (JUBA) — Southern Sudan government and the World Bank signed a 15 million USD agreement to assist Juba in the implementation of the currency exchange project, the WB said today.

A grant agreement worth USD15.0 million was signed in Juba on May 24, 2007 between the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) and the World Bank to assist the Central Bank of Sudan to exchange the new Sudanese Pound for the Sudanese Dinar and other currencies currently circulating in Sudan.

According to the WB statement, the grant from the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Southern Sudan (MDTF-SS), will finance the recruitment and training of personnel to implement the currency exchange project. The grant also will fund a public information campaign to widely explain exchange procedures, the establishment and maintenance of currency distribution facilities and the transportation and storage of new and old currencies.

Part of the financing will provide services to assist in auditing the accounting and financial reporting system of the GoSS to ensure the financial integrity of the currency exchange exercise. An independent evaluation of the entire currency exchange process will be carried out.

Under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), a unified national currency is seen to be a direct delivery of the peace dividends, replacing the various currencies in circulation with one common currency which reflects the needs of all the Sudanese people. In many parts of Sudan, the old Sudanese pound, the Sudanese dinar, currencies of the neighboring countries and the US dollar were all in use.

Gabriel Chang, Acting Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, lauded the project and said that the new currency represented a new era for the Sudanese people as begun by the signing of the CPA. “The aspirations of the people of Southern Sudan for sustained peace and development will be greatly advanced by the establishment of a new unified currency”, he said.

The World Bank Country Director for Sudan and Ethiopia, Ishac Diwan said, “The new currency is a powerful symbol of the peace process and the will of the people of Southern Sudan to move forward towards a new future.”

The circulation of the new currency began in January this year and the other currencies in circulation are being phased out. The project is also funded by the Government of National Unity and the MDTF-National.

(ST)