Sudan inches closer to increasing minimum wage
July 10, 2013, (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s Ministry of Finance has announced today that the committees which were formed to consider the impact of increasing the monthly minimum wage have finished their work.
The Sudanese official further pointed out that the government’s policies aims to stabilise the living conditions of its citizens, reforming the economy and improving per capita income.
The current minimum monthly wage is 425 SDG ($96 based on official exchange rate).
The Sudanese pound is now trading at 7 SDG to the dollar on the black market which sharply contrasts the official exchange rate of 4.4 SDG to the dollar. Analysts say the sinking value of the Sudanese pound means the country now pays a hefty bill to import food.
In recent days the price of an egg basket (24 eggs) went up from 16 SDG to 22 SDG, 1kg of lentils increased to 10 SDG from 7 SDG while meat price reached 50 SDG compared to 44 SDG last weekend.
Last June, Sudan’s minister of finance Ali Mahmoud Abdel-Rasool urged the parliament to authorise gradual lifting of subsidies as a solution to curb inflation rates.
Later in the same month, an informed source told Sudan Tribune that the Shura (consultative) council of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) endorsed a proposal to further reduce fuel subsidies.
Following the independence of South Sudan in July 2011, Khartoum was forced to introduce a contractionary budget that saw the partial lifting of fuel and food subsidies which triggered rare but small demonstrations across the country.
The government defended the measures saying that the country can no longer afford to pay for these subsidies after losing 75% of the oil reserves that are now in South Sudanese territory.
(ST)