South Sudan pound weakened due to high demand for dollars: Central bank

The high demand for dollars from importers and other people seeking travel outside for treatment and school fees have caused volatility in the exchange rate that has seen the South Sudanese Pounds plummet in value against the dollar.

This was revealed Thursday by Johnny Ohisa Damian, the Governor for Bank of South Sudan (BoSS) during press conference in Juba.

He said that the upcoming Easter season holiday has also contributed to the high demand for dollars.

 “Domestically, the financial condition and in particular the exchange rate remains volatile. The demand for dollars for imports from the rest of the world, school fees and Easter season have exerted upward pressure on the exchange rate market,” Ohisa said.

Ohisa said they plan to auction dollars in order to help mop up excess liquidity in a bid to strengthen the local pound.

“We are going to auction money but in auction you have to come with your money, bring the money that you have and you take the dollars, with that we will be able to mop out a lot of money from the market,” he said.

Ohisa said that they are still allowing commercial banks and forex bureaus to deposit money in with them in order to mitigate the current situation in the market.

 “There are other reforms that we are doing, some of the banks are not properly capitalized they do not have enough capital to enable them perform their duty. We are working with the World Bank to ensure the commercial banks play their role of intermediation,” he added.

In February the pound was exchanging with the dollar 820, but it’s currently exchanging at 900 SSP.