Sudan inflation rate soars to 412% in June

Sudan’s annual inflation rate rose to 412.75 per cent in June, up from 378.79 per cent in May, according to state news agency SUNA.

The latest spike was as a result of price hikes including on food, it added.

Sudan’s military removes al-Bashir – Cartoon [Arabi21]

The temporary government transferred executive power to a mixed civilian-military Sovereignty Council and civilian prime minister Abdalla Hamdok in September 2019. It has vowed to repair the economy which has been hit by decades of US sanctions and mismanagement under Al-Bashir.

In recent months, the country has been undergoing an economic reform programme monitored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to relieve more than $50 billion of Sudan’s debt, approximately 90 per cent of its total, over the next few years.

The programme entails measures such as scrapping diesel and petrol subsidies and carrying out a managed rise of the Sudanese pound to enable the country to qualify for debt relief and restrict a rampant black market.

In late June, hundreds of people took to the streets in the capital and other cities to demand the government’s resignation over the reforms.

On Friday, the Paris Club, Sudan’s largest creditor, said it would cancel much of the debt owed to it by Sudan as part of the IMF’s effort to allow for Khartoum to re-enter the international fold.

READ: IMF members agree to clear Sudan’s debt arrears