Dr Harry Verhoeven comments on black market currency crackdown in Sudan

Harry Verhoeven was quoted in an article for Reuters (16 January) on Sudans recent efforts to rein in its black market currency trade.

While Sudan maintains an official exchange rate of 4.4 Sudanese pounds to the dollar, the unofficial exchange rate available in the black market has widened considerably recently, as following South Sudanese independence Sudan has lost much of the oil revenue which typically provided the country with foreign currency. This has prompted the Sudanese government to crack down on the black market, arresting dozens of currency dealers and seizing their cash.

Harry noted, however, that with most people unwilling to sell dollars at the official exchange rate, this move by the government risks paralyzing the economy and will not last long. This is clearly unsustainable, he said. Theyll have to backtrack ... The main money traders in Sudan, these are guys who get picked up here and then the next day government officials themselves go to these guys to change money.

The article can be read in full here.

Harry Verhoeven is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Politics & International Relations and is the Convenor of the Oxford University China-Africa Network (OUCAN).