Finance Minister Deng Athorbei must stop ministers from buying Dollars in Central Bank directly.
By David Aoloch Bion
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 .
- 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
- 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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