South Sudan’s central bank ends dollar liquidity auctions

JUBA — South Sudan central bank has announced that it has discontinued it’s weekly auctioning of 8 million U.S dollars to commercial banks and Forex Bureaus.

The move aimed to reduce excess liquidity of pounds in the market to improve the economy.

In April, central bank started supplying the market $5 million every week-$ 3 million to forex bureau and $ 5 million to commercial banks.

About 22 commercial banks and 56 forex exchange bureaus competed in the bidding process.

The bank disclosed that it has auctioned over $100 million which wiped out 50 billion South Sudanese Pounds from circulation since March this year.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference in Juba yesterday at bank’s premises, Dier Tong Ngor, governor of Bank of South Sudan (BOSS) said they have achieved the objective for which the auctioning was introduced.

“We are announcing to you that from today onward, Central Bank is going to stop this daily adjustment of central bank rate through auctioning,” Tong told reporters at Tuesday’s press conference in Juba.

“The data that we have and the analysis that we have made indicate that we have achieved the objective that we were working for in the last months,” Tong added.

He disclosed that the bank is going to adapt to the market exchange rate.

“We are going to operate and adopt the market rate. So, what will happen, every day, we will calculate the average of all the commercial bank’s rates that will be the rate to lead that market,” he said.

The bank’s governor said the exchange rate of the dollar will be determined by the reference rate.

“The central bank will set its buying and selling rate in accordance with reference rates and it is on the basis of this that the commercial banks and other financial institutions will set their rates,” he said.