Khartoum — The Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) announced yesterday that it will be issuing a new note of SDG 1,000. The new note comes amidst rising inflation in Sudan.

In a public statement, the CBoS announced "to all the public that a new SDG 1,000 banknote has been issued" according to article 6A of the Central Bank of Sudan Law 2002 and its amendments and "based on the authorities of the Central Bank of Sudan and its competencies and responsibilities in protecting the national currency, stabilising the exchange rate, and helping to achieve economic stability".

The SDG 1.000 note is the newest addition in a series of new notes of increasingly higher values amidst rising inflation.

Inflation of the Sudanese Pound

The socioeconomic detritus of the 30-year dictatorship of Al Bashir, who has also been on trial in Khartoum for currency offences, has left Sudan's economy in ruins, with the value of the Sudanese Pound (SDG) at all-time lows against international currencies.

In its dying throes, the Al Bashir regime desperately ordered the printing of new currency denominations of SDG 100, SDG 200, and SDG 500 by the Central Bank of Sudan in an attempt to solve the chronic public and commercial liquidity crisis.

In the years after, concerns about the rising inflation grew, strengthened by Sudan's importing of most basic needs, the budget deficit, and the dramatic increase in salaries financed through the printing of banknotes, which led to a further devaluation of the Pound.

Recently, the Sudanese Pound plunged even further, and the US Dollar traded for SDG550 on the parallel forex market. United Nations reports indicate that the value of the local currency has decreased 20 times (2,000 per cent) during the past five years.