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Finance Minister Deng Athorbei must stop ministers from buying Dollars in Central Bank directly.

By David Aoloch Bion

Newly re-appointed minister of finance and economic planning, David Deng Athorbei
Newly re-appointed minister of finance and economic planning, David Deng Athorbei

January 21, 2015 (SSB) — Hon. David Deng Athorbei , I have not congratulated you  on your  new appointment as the Minister of finance  but I welcome you to your new assignment .  After one year I will either congratulate you or I will jeer you depending on the way the economics of South Sudan is going to perform. If the economy perform well and grow by 0.01% per a year, I will congratulate you. if the economy perform poorly and  slow down by one step backward , I will mock you.

Your Honourable , you have been appointed by the time when South Sudan economy is in worst recession I am sorry to use word ’’ recession’’  because  the economy has not been booming  since  independence . The meltdown  of the economy is not blamed on your predecessor, Mr Aggrey Sabuni .  We are  also not celebrating  your coming because we are surest that   you will  not stimulate  economy .

As the new economist in chief, I want you to solve one thing for South Sudanese and their economy, this one thing is the “Problem of Dollar”   Why is the Dollar scarcest in the official market? Why is the Dollar plentiful in the black market? .

These are hypothesis surrounding this problem of Dollar.

The Mythological hypotheses

1 . The black market was created by David Deng Athorbei when he was Minister of finance before he was fired last July ; at his time in office he gave dollars to group of  black marketers  from  Yirol .

  1. The governor of central bank Cornello Koryom Mayik gives Dollars to the group of black marketers from Warrap state who go and sell it  to Ethiopians, Somalians and Durfurians .

Factual hypotheses

  1. The Government of South Sudan has the policy that if the government officials  be the minister , be the director and be other junior officers want a Dollar for school fees of their children , for these medical treatment abroad or their businesses  , the ministry writes to the Bank of South Sudan (BOSS), the central bank to allow such  official to exchange Dollars directly in central bank  at the 2.96 SSP.

2     The central bank has the policy of releasing Dollars to commercial banks and forex  bureaus , which can be exchanged to business men  and the general publics  but  the forex bureau do not sell dollars in forex but take it to the black markets.

3 The central bank is doing illicit business on the government reserve Dollar in the black market. The central bank officials gives Dollars to friends and relatives , who  sell that dollars in black market  And they return the government money back and take the profit the made from transaction .

Am appealing to  you as the new Economist in Chief to take serious measures against unethical economic policies.

You are en economist, the ultimate objective of any central bank in the World is to regulate the interest rates , fiscal and monetary policies of the country  , it does deal with in such things like selling  Dollars to some sections of the society like ministers . All government officials who want  Dollars  must go  to the forex bureau to buy Dollars .  In classical maxim of economy is ‘’ there is no free lunch’’. This means , if there is economic hardship as we are in , no can be given free services like the exchange of dollars  by some people at rate of 2.95 SSP and exchange the same dollar  at the rate of 4.55 SSP.

What is the work of forex bureaus if some people can go to central bank and access dollars ?  you  do justices for all . You either close all forex and all of us go and buy dollar in central bank , you must stop people from buying dollar in central bank ,

You must  write circular stopping giving any government official dollar in central bank  . we are all citizens , stop discrimination and injustices .

The dollars is scarcest in official market because BOSS is doing illicit business on it    ,  the central gives dollars to forex bureaus to be exchanged to general public. On the other hand ,  the central bank is mandated by the government to exchange dollar to government ministries at rate of 2.96 SSP.  Therefore , instead , the central bank exchange dollar to government  officials in  the central bank , the bank send officials who are supposed to get dollar direct from bank to forex bureaus  again  to get dollar  expense of general public  .

Stop central BOSS officials from making profits on national  reserve dollars in the market blacks

Stop government officials from buying dollars in central bank. directly

Stop forex bureau from selling dollars in the black market.

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