Dollar price continues to rise against Sudanese pound
October 23, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The price of the US dollar has increased in the black market in Khartoum on Monday, settling at 21.7 Sudanese pounds (SDG) as police launch a wide arrest campaign against hard currency traders.
Traders speaking to Sudan Tribune Monday in central Khartoum said the purchase price of the dollar reached 21,5 pounds while the selling price settled at 21,7 pounds compared to 21,1 and 21,3 pounds on Saturday.
They attributed the price rise to the scarce supply and the growing demand for the dollar, expecting the dollar price to reach 22 pounds during a couple of days.
Meanwhile, the police department carried out a wide arrest campaign against dollar traders in downtown Khartoum.
In a press release on Monday, the director of the investigation department at Khartoum state police Abdel-Aziz Hussein Awad said the campaign against dollar traders aims to end the negative phenomena on the streets and the commercial complexes.
He described the presence of the dollar traders on the streets of downtown Khartoum as a negative phenomenon which weakens the national economy.
The Sudanese pound has lost 100% of its value since South Sudan’s secession in 2011, pushing inflation rates to record levels given that the East African nation imports most of its food.
Last November, the Central Bank of Sudan introduced an incentive policy, increasing the exchange rate in commercial banks by 131%. As a result, the U.S. dollar exchange rate went up in banks to 15.8 SDG from the official rate of 6.5 SDG.
However, this measure didn’t halt the rise of the dollar against the pound in the black market.
(ST)