Economist expects decline in dollar rate against local currency

JUBA – One of the country’ economists is saying that the South Sudanese Pound is expected to gain more strength against foreign currencies after the government secured disbursement of  $52.3 million from the International Monetary Fund.

Deng Makur, head of the Department of Economics at the University of Juba told Sudans Post in an exclusive interview on Monday that the exchange rate of U.S dollar against the pound in the parallel market is going to decrease in the next few weeks.

“Now in parallel market one hundred USD is equivalent to 580 SSP, and in the coming two days or one week once the loan bought by IMF is in, immediately the rate of one hundred U.S dollar which is equivalent to 580 SSP today is going to drop from 580 to 500 SSP,” he told Sudans post reporter.

The senior economist said the U.S dollar will be available if the loan borrowed from IMF is injected into the market hence appreciate the pound.

“For now the pound is not going to lose value, it is going to gain value for time being because the gap between the pound and U.S dollar will increase somehow,” he said.

Makur explained that the drop in exchange rate will not have any effect on the prices of commodities in the market.

He added that the prices of commodities will only increase given the fact that it is the Christmas season where the demands for commodities usually increase.

One currency trader at Juba Town told Sudans Post this afternoon that he does not buy the idea that prices of commodities, and exchange rate will decrease in coming weeks.

”I think everything will increase since Christmas is coming like you can see now in the market, they are selling clothes at 14,000 to 15,000 SSP. We believe in December, everything will be expensive in the market,” the trader told Sudans Post.

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on November 11 this year approved a disbursement of SDR 36.9 million (about US$52.3 million or 15 percent of its SDR quota) to South Sudan under the Rapid Credit Facility.

The disbursement will help finance South Sudan’s urgent balance of payments needs, contain the fiscal impact of the shock and will provide critical fiscal space to maintain poverty-reducing and growth-enhancing spending.