South Sudan central bank launches strategic plan to stabilize economy

(trend.az)

NAIROBI, June 27 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's central bank on Tuesday launched a five-year strategic plan aimed at stabilizing food prices and establishing a sound financial system in the country.

Johnny Ohisa Damian, the governor of the Bank of South Sudan, said the strategic plan will also focus on boosting investor confidence in the economy that is reeling from high inflation caused by overreliance on imports.

"Our economy is being hit by multiple external shocks that are driving the exchange rate high, market prices up, in the face of such challenges we have managed to keep the exchange rate stable," Ohisa said during the launch of the strategic plan in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

Taban Deng Gai, the vice president for Infrastructure Cluster, said that overreliance on imports poses a serious challenge for the central bank in controlling inflation.

"The central bank has got a task given the fact that we are a consumer society, we are not producing our goods. The food that we are eating and the fuel come from Uganda, Kenya, or UAE," Gai said. "What we are launching today is an ambitious program showing what the central bank will look like in 2027 in terms of capacity, the economy, and price stability."

Dier Tong Ngor, the minister of Finance and Planning, said that the long-term objectives of the strategic plan should not be compromised for short-term gains. "Sometimes we are compromising long-term objectives for short-term gains, instead short-term gains should contribute to the long-term objectives that have been set," Ngor said.

The South Sudan pound (SSP) has depreciated against the U.S. dollar exchanging at SSP 97 from the previous 58 in January 2023. Oil-dependent South Sudan heavily imports goods from neighboring countries.