South Sudan president replaces central bank governor

South Sudan President Salva Kiir Saturday evening sacked the central bank governor amid rising inflation and a broke government ravaged by conflict.

President Kiir replaced Kornelio Koryom Mayik with Othom Rago Ajak as the governor of the Bank of South Sudan (BSS). Mr Ajak was the BSS’s foreign exchange director.

The president gave no reason for firing Mr Mayik, but there had been rumours that his government was becoming impatient with the central bank chief for failing to rein in high inflation and depreciation of the South Sudanese Pound (SSP) against the dollar that saw BSS devalue the currency, abandoning the fixed exchange rate for the black market one in December 2015.

The South Sudanese leader also sacked Mr Mayik’s deputy John Dor Majok, deputy Finance minister Mary Jervas Yak, and Salvatore Garang, the first undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

Conflict-hit South Sudan plunged into economic crunch following eruption of civil war in 2013 between supporters of President Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar.

The conflict has drained the oil-rich country of much-needed revenue generated from oil production, leaving the country’s ailing economy on the verge of collapse as inflation reached 800 per cent in January.

A peace deal signed in August 2015 led to the formation of a transitional unity government in last April, but was shattered by renewed fighting in July 2016.

Tens of thousands of South Sudanese have been killed, over two million displaced and another 4.6 million left severely food insecure since December 2013.