Sudan’s President Bashir Dissolves Government In a bid to Tackle a Troubled Economy

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has sacked all his cabinet ministers and named Motazz Moussa as the Country’s new Prime Minister, in a move to resolve an economic crisis that has resulted into a severe shortage of currency.

Motazz, who replaced the one year serving Bakri Hassan Saleh as Sudan’s Prime Minister, is President Bashir’s hope of stabilizing the young country’s economy after having served as minister of irrigation and electricity.

President Bashir, in his new government, has sliced down the number of ministries by 10, from 31 to 21 according to a Presidential statement released on 9th September.

“President Omar al-Bashir has informed that he will sack the government at all levels, the prime minister, federal ministers and ministers of state in order to fix the situation facing the country,” the statement read adding that President Bashir would form a new Government that would renew the country’s nationals hope.

According to the statement, the move was necessary to solve the state of distress and frustration the country was facing.

Sudan’s economic troubles have seen inflation surging above 65 percent with the price of food commodities and other basic items doubling within the past one year.

Sudan’s Central Bank has on two occasions devalued the pound making it harder to import crucial commodities such as wheat which sparked demonstrations across Sudan after the price of bread doubled.

Sudan’s economic woes started after South Sudan’s independence in 2011 as a majority of oil outputs, which were majorly a source of foreign currency for the country, went to South Sudan.

Sudan has on numerous occasions tried to cut down its expenses as it struggles with the high inflation and currency shortage. The US lifted its 20-year trade sanctions, in 2017, but Sudan’s economy is yet to see better days.

Sudan’s currency shortage has since led to Long queues at the corridors of commercial banks in Khartoum with daily withdrawal limits in a number of banks falling to a record 500 Sudanese pounds or rather 16.60 dollars.