Sudan: Economy Ready For Take-off After U.S. Sanctions - Govt

3 July 2017

Kigali, Rwanda — Sudan's government is confident that they are ready to enter the African and international markets when the U.S. sanctions – frozen for the past six months – are dropped.

The Trump administration needs to make a final decision on permanently dropping the sanctions by July 13.

Finance Minister Mohamed Ousman Elrakibi, speaking during the Afreximbank AGM in Kigali, said the country's administration has been preparing for their return, and simultaneously working on absorbing the economic knocks dealt by the cessation of South Sudan.

"The 5-year economic reform programme put in place in 2015 and moving through to 2020 to create a suitable environment for business through political stability," Elrakibi said.

The finance minister was joined on the podium by Sudanese legal expert Ahmed Dirdeiry, and Assistant Central Bank governor in the economic and policies wing Mohamed Ahmed Elbushra.

According to Dirdeiry, the US sanctions are directly responsible for the adverse economic situation in Sudan, and there is "no objective reason for sanctions to continue".

"The country has been hailed by the US for its co-operation in stopping international terrorism, and there have no more accusations of destabilising in the region. And when it comes to human rights, the US action has done greater disservice to human rights in Sudan than any other action," Dirdeiry said.

Assistant governor Elbushra said that existing trade between Sudan and South Sudan has not been recorded, and the establishment of a joint technical committee where the two countries are "agreeing on trade principles and procedures".

"We have provided supporting documents to South Sudan for the meetings, which have been interrupted due to recent problems in South Sudan," Elbushra said.

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