![Man (hands seen) holds sum of South Sudanese Pound in the black market in Juba [Photo by ELRHA]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/South-Sudan-Cash-Transfer.jpg?resize=1024%2C597&ssl=1)
The bill, known as Banking and Other Financial Institutions Bill 2023, was presented to the parliament by the chairperson of parliamentary committee on finance and economic planning Changkuoth Bichiok Reth.
Changkuoth said that the change is necessary to assert South Sudan’s sovereignty and to create a currency that is unique to the country.
“In all countries, the money belongs to the country and is named after the country which people belong to,” he said. “So, the money should be called the South Sudan Pound.”
Addis Ababa Othwo, deputy governor of the central bank agreed with Changkuoth, saying the change is in line with international best practices.
“The practice in the region when it comes to currency is to name the currency after the country,” he said. “In Kenya, they call it Kenya Shillings and in Uganda, they call it Uganda Shillings that is why we are changing it from South Sudanese Pounds to South Sudan Pounds.”
However, some lawmakers objected to the change, arguing that it is unnecessary and that it could lead to confusion.
Charles Majak, a member of the ruling SPLM representing Warrap State in the parliament said that the currency belongs to the people, not the country.
“When this bill was brought for the second reading I objected to the amendment of South Sudanese Pound to South Sudan Pound and I said this word Sudanese is used for possession because money is a medium of exchange otherwise, we have what we call barter trade,” he said.
“It is the people who possess those resources in the form of money. Why would you delete Sudanese and put Sudan? South Sudan does not own the resources, it is the people who own the resources, and they are living within the international border in a place called South Sudan,” he added.
Despite the objections, the bill is expected to pass through Parliament and become law in the coming weeks. The Bank of South Sudan has not yet announced a timeline for the introduction of the new currency.
The change in currency comes as South Sudan is facing several economic challenges, including high inflation, a shortage of foreign currency, and widespread corruption.
The country is also trying to recover from a deadly civil war that displaced millions of people and left millions more in need of humanitarian assistance.
Some economists have warned that the introduction of a new currency could further destabilize the economy and lead to higher prices.
Others argue that the change is necessary to rebuild public trust in the government and to create a foundation for economic recovery.
Well, if the value of the new currency that is to be introduce ls powerful or has more value than the current pounds. It will be better and it can recover our economy from shrinking down. But if the value is the same is always create more confussion and it may fuel up this crisis we are in.
Of course I Agree to change our current money, South Sudanese pound to new current South Sudan pound.
it’s true and I also agreed to be changed to south Sudan pound, why it’s actually not okay to call our own currency, south Sudanes pound’s, compares to other countries actually we are really behind
It’s okay to replace the current south Sudanese pound to south Sudan pound unless the next currency must be powerful that always boosts the economy of the country otherwise I don’t see a sense but I suggest that the new currency after the election as a new era to the coming president
It is just corruption. There will no changes believe me.
Its a good idea to change the currency so that we recovery the value of money
It sounds so sweet in people’s ears to hear of something relating to change of currency, but , we do focus much on the reason behind the change. To me it holds no water to change the name from South Sudanese to South Sudan pound. I wish the reason for the change was to lie along value and reduced bulkiness of the South Sudan else pound then I would give it a right thumbs up.
If they’re no government policies regulating market prices in the market, how would it possible to change the currency?
Corruption is one of the major factor in this beloved country, yes we don’t object the change of currency but, take legal measures to save us from this inflation.
The change in our country’s currency will not solve our economic problems. The change of currency will create confusion and will take a long time to control. It is better to leave the currency the way it is and approach our economic problems by tying the unnecessary expenditures in our government and focusing on supporting small businesses to create more jobs. It would be good if our government enabled to creation of agricultural jobs to move our population toward farming for we to secure our food instead of dependence on other countries’ food supply.