File photo: The Sudanese pound has hit a new low against the US dollar on the black market because of a shortage of foreign currency in the country's markets, traders said (AFP Photo)
The Sudanese pound dropped to a record low on Wednesday, according to currency traders, as the official banking system struggles to supply dollars needed to buy imports.
The cost of a dollar on the parallel market rose to 16 Sudanese pounds from 15.1 pounds last month, traders said. The government has kept the official rate at 6.4 pounds to the dollar since August 2015.
"There is a big dollar shortage with an increase in demand from companies that import," a parallel market trader said, and Sudanese banks are not able to transfer money because of United States sanctions on Sudan.
"There is a sort of panic; people are buying dollars at any price and exchanging their savings from pounds to dollars .. given the scarcity of the dollar, this way, the dollar price will continue to rise," another black market trader said.
Prices soared in Sudan after South Sudan seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of the country's oil output, the main source of foreign currency used to support the Sudanese pound and to pay for food and other imports.
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