South Sudan central bank says foreign exchange reserves have run out

By Denis Dumo

JUBA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - South Sudan has run out of foreign exchange reserves and can no longer stop the pound’s depreciation, a senior central bank official said on Wednesday.

Daniel Kech Pouch, the bank’s second deputy governor, told a news conference that the country’s oil revenues had dropped, hitting its foreign exchange reserves.

South Sudan gets almost all of its revenue from crude oil, but current output, at around 180,000 barrels per day, is well down from a peak of 250,000 bpd before the outbreak of conflict in the country in 2013, according to the ministry’s figures.

“It is difficult for us at the moment to stop this rapidly increasing exchange rate, because we do not have resources, we do not have reserves,” Pouch told the news conference.

South Sudan has three different exchange rates - one from the central bank, one from commercial banks, and another from the so-called parallel, or unofficial, market, Pouch said.

Pouch said the rate for the pound from the central bank was 165 per dollar, while from commercial banks it was at around 190, and from the parallel market 400.

Soaring inflation has persisted for several years, largely due to the depreciating South Sudan pound. Pouch said inflation stood at 35%. (Reporting by Denis Dumo; Editing by George Obulutsa and Jan Harvey)