Sudan names ministers of finance, interior in new government

Sudan’s ruling party named new ministers to the key posts of finance, interior and water resources on Thursday, days after President Omar al-Bashir dissolved the government amid a deepening economic crisis, Reuters reports.

Bashir named a new prime minister this week and said the number of ministers in a leaner new government would be slashed by a third to cut government spending as the economy grapples with soaring inflation and an acute hard currency shortage.

Abdullah Hamduk was appointed the minister of finance, Ahmed Bilal Othman interior minister, and Khadr Mohamed Qasmallah minister of water resources and electricity, National Congress Party Deputy Chairman Faisal Hassan told a news conference.

Read: 10,000 families displaced and villages destroyed by floods in Sudan

Hamduk served previously as executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

As part of the smaller government, the ministry of petroleum and mining have been merged, and will now be headed by Azhari Abdel Qader, who served as minister of petroleum in the previous government, Hassan said.

The ministers of foreign affairs, defence and presidential affairs from the previous government were kept in their posts.

Khartoum has been trying to slash expenditures as it grapples with inflation that hit about 64 per cent year-on-year in July and a hard currency shortage that has given way to periodic scarcity in staples like fuel and bread.

Bashir’s ruling party said last month that it plans to nominate the longtime ruler for re-election in 2020, a move that requires amending the constitution.