Sudan announced emergency measures on Monday aimed at rationing its dwindling supply of dollars and stabilising its pound currency after it weakened sharply in recent weeks.
The Sudanese pound has been weakening against the dollar since Washington lifted 20-year-old economic sanctions last month, encouraging traders to step up imports and putting pressure on scarce hard currency.
After falling to an all-time low of around 27 pounds to the dollar on the black market last week, it strengthened on Monday to about 24 pounds, traders said, driven by anticipation of the measures.
The central bank holds the official exchange rate at 6.7 pounds to the dollar, though businesses are unable to secure their hard currency needs at this rate and are forced to resort to the parallel market.
To stem the flow of scarce currency out of the banking system, tight restrictions will be placed on imports of luxury goods, and remaining liquidity will be directed toward sectors that boost growth, the central bank said on Monday after a meeting with President Omar al-Bashir that included the finance minister.
The central bank is also reviewing how to regulate the purchase and export of gold by traders to prevent smuggling, the finance minister said. "Prosecutors will charge brokers and dealers who smuggle gold or who are not paying export fees with sabotaging the national economy, money laundering and funding terrorism," said General Prosecutor Omar Ahmed.
Earlier on Monday, the Finance Ministry said state companies would be temporarily unable to request hard currency and a ceiling would be placed on foreign currency transfers, though it did not specify the level of the ceiling.
The weakened pound has contributed to surging inflation, which reached 35.13 percent in September year-on-year, up from 34.61 percent in August, according to the Central Statistics Office.
The import-dependent country has suffered both from the sanctions and from the secession of the south in 2011, when it lost three-quarters of its oil output, its main source of foreign currency.
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