South Sudan central bank says has reserves for a few months
August 10 2011 at 02:49pm
UBA (Reuters) – South Sudan has enough reserves to pay for the basic needs of the state for a “few months” even if it does not receive oil revenues, the central bank governor said on Wednesdsay.
Governor Elijah Malok said the new currency, the South Sudan pound, which was issued after secession from the north in July, had weakened possibly because some people were hoarding U.S. dollars but said there was no cause for alarm.
Asked about the central bank’s reserves, Malok told reporters: “I will not give it to you but we are ok. Even if we do not receive the oil money for the next few months, we can survive at the rate of $50 million expenditure per month for goods and services coming to the South.”
“We are alright, we can pay for the basic services of the state,” he said.
The South took 75 percent of the united country’s 500,000 barrels a day of oil production when it split away. But it depends for exports on a pipeline that runs through the north.
The two sides have yet to agree a transit fee. The north said on Friday it had halted a shipment from the south because of the dispute.
On the new currency, the governor said: “The rate when we broke off was 2.70 (to the U.S. dollar). After briefing the government of South Sudan, we put it at 2.90. It has moved since then to be 3.30.
“Why is that? We believed having put in $28 million thus far, there are people who like to hoard this money and possibly take it … outside, either to the north or outside, so the dollar is in demand,” he said.
But he added: “We do not need to alarm people, it is under control.”
South Sudan: Reserves for a few months
August 10 2011 at 02:49pm
REUTERSA man waves South Sudan’s national flag as he attends the Independence Day celebrations in the capital Juba, July 9, 2011. Tens of thousands of South Sudanese danced and cheered as their new country formally declared its independence on Saturday, a hard-won separation from the north that also plunged the fractured region into a new period of uncertainty.South Sudan has enough reserves to pay for the basic needs of the state for a “few months” even if it does not receive oil revenues, the central bank governor said on Wednesdsay.
Governor Elijah Malok said the new currency, the South Sudan pound, which was issued after secession from the north in July, had weakened possibly because some people were hoarding US dollars but said there was no cause for alarm.
Asked about the central bank’s reserves, Malok told reporters: “I will not give it to you but we are ok. Even if we do not receive the oil money for the next few months, we can survive at the rate of $50 million expenditure per month for goods and services coming to the South.”
“We are alright, we can pay for the basic services of the state,” he said.
The South took 75 percent of the united country’s 500,000 barrels a day of oil production when it split away. But it depends for exports on a pipeline that runs through the north.
The two sides have yet to agree a transit fee. The north said on Friday it had halted a shipment from the south because of the dispute.
On the new currency, the governor said: “The rate when we broke off was 2.70 (to the US dollar). After briefing the government of South Sudan, we put it at 2.90. It has moved since then to be 3.30.
“Why is that? We believed having put in $28 million thus far, there are people who like to hoard this money and possibly take it … outside, either to the north or outside, so the dollar is in demand,” he said.
But he added: “We do not need to alarm people, it is under control.” – Reuters
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