Sudan receives $857 million in IMF aid

Sudan’s ousted president Omar Al-Bashir, right, sits at the during his trial a courthouse in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. (AP Photo)

KHARTOUM: Sudan has received more than $857 million as part of a global allocation by the International Monetary Fund to help vulnerable countries, the central bank said on Thursday.
Earlier this month, the IMF approved $650 billion increase in cash reserves for member nations as they struggle to recover from the economic effects of Covid-19.
The IMF “has allotted... the equivalent of $857.68 million to Sudan and it is available without restrictions given the current economic situation,” the central bank in Khartoum said in a statement.
It said the funding will allow it to “press ahead with implementing flexible managed float policies, stabilising the exchange rate, and the overall economy.”
Sudan has been struggling with economic woes that deepened after the April 2019 ouster of president Omar Al-Bashir following mass protests triggered by economic hardship.
The transitional government installed in August 2019 has vowed to fix the economy which was battered by decades of US sanctions and mismanagement under Bashir.
The coronavirus pandemic has further compounded the country’s economic crisis.
In recent months, Sudan has embarked on tough reforms including scrapping diesel and petrol subsidies and declaring a managed float of the Sudanese pound to stem a rampant black market.
The measures, seen by many Sudanese as harsh, were part of reforms backed by the IMF to enable the country to qualify for debt relief.