The Sudanese government has introduced a temporary ban on 19 products, which includes, meat, fish and fresh produce

Sudan has banned the import of 19 products in a bid to protect supplies of foreign exchange. The new ban includes meat, fish and fresh produce. The government measure came into effect on the 7th December and is designed to help mitigate Sudan’s growing budget deficit.

Since the lifting of US economic sanctions earlier this year, imports have risen, which has in turn affected foreign currency reserves. The Sudanese central bank has held the exchange rate at 6.7 Sudanese pounds to the dollar, while on the black market one dollar is worth 25 Sudanese pounds and has been traded as low as 27:1. In October, the dollar was trading at 18.5 Sudanese pounds.

It is unlikely the ban will have much affect in addressing the underlying issue of foreign currency supply. As we have noted in Nigeria, If you buy stock in dollars but sell in the market in local currency then an overvalued dollar:local currency rate is problematic for anyone trading currency at the official rate because nobody’s buying dollars at the official rate. In conjunction with import restrictions, formal traders face major obstacles and will continue to struggle to access foreign exchange.