Watchdog blames South Sudan currency problems on central bank ‘mistakes’  

JUBA, MAY 15, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – A South Sudan civil society watchdog on Monday afternoon blamed the plummeting local currency value on what he termed as “grave mistakes” he said have been committed by the country’s central bank.

According to the official foreign currency rate published by the central bank this morning, one US dollar is traded at SSP901, SSP984.8 for EURO, 1129.4 for GBP, SSP6.59 for Kenya Shilling, SSP0.24 for Uganda Shilling, SSP2 for Sudanese Pound, and SSP16.3 for Ethiopian Bir.

In a statement signed by its Executive Director Edmund Yakani, the civil society watchdog Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) urged the government to take extra measures to rescue the country’s economy.

“CEPO is urging the political leadership of South Sudan to urgently take serious decision and concrete measures to rescue the value of the South Sudanese Pounds from further loss of value against the US dollars,” the statement extended to Sudans Post reads in part.

Yakani said that the South Sudan central bank practice of auctioning of dollars is a mistake that has contributed to the weakening of the local currency value.

“The practice of Central Bank of South Sudan auctioning US dollars was one of the grave mistake acts that contributed in devaluation of the SSP value. The act of auctioning US dollars to commercial banks is not beneficial to the common citizens and the actual traders across the country,” he said.

“Recipients of the central bank of South Sudan auctioning of the US dollars are successful succeeded in turning US dollars into a commercial commodity fir selling and buying in the market. This is a total grave mistake created by the US dollars auctioning to commercial banks,” he added.

Yakani further said “It is a high time for the political leadership to adhere to the principles of economic and finance reforms proposed in peace agreement and demonstrate sincere commitment to best practices for administering government finance and economic practices.”