Sudan considers its critical budget for 2020

As it was prior to the revolution, the Sudanese economy is still in the doldrums. Disposable income has shrunk and the Sudanese pound is losing ground on the dollar ($1 is worth 85 pounds on the black market), despite much-promised measures to stabilise the foreign exchange market which have failed to deliver. Sudan is currently importing over 3,000 products using dollars obtained on the black market and the Central Bank of Sudan is simply unable to provide sufficient reserves of strong currencies to satisfy the needs of importers.

The minister of finance, Ibrahim el-Badawi, has conceded that the government can only paper over the cracks when in fact the whole edifice needs rebuilding. The 2020 budget currently under discussion will therefore be revealing as to the direction that the government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok intends to take. The central reference point is the income per inhabitant, which stands at $720 according to International Monetary Fund figures.

Prosecuting those responsible for misappropriating considerable sums, such as the ousted president Omar al-Bashir, could be a first step, but Hamdok has made the detoxifying of the business climate his priority. Khartoum is also hoping American sanctions will be lifted in mid-2020, which would give Sudan access to the international finance system.