South Sudan President Grants Independence of Central Bank

May 31, 2024 (JUBA) – South Sudan President Salva Kiir has granted the independence of the Central Bank as part of efforts to avert political interference as well as strengthen its ability to control foreign exchange rates and inflation.

The directive, announced on the state-owned television (SSBC) on Thursday, also seeks to implement the provision of the 2018 peace agreement advocating for economic reforms and the independence of the bank on monetary policies.

Others, however, see it as the implementation of the 2023 Bank Act, granting the bank a mandate to execute statutory and supervision functions without seeking directives and guidance from the Finance ministry or the office of the president.

Article 182 (8) read together with section (7) of the Bank of South Sudan Act, amended in 2023, stipulates that the Bank of South Sudan shall be independent in its statutory and supervisory functions. The act further explains that the mandate of the Bank of South Sudan is to independently exercise powers and functions without interference from other government institutions and individuals.

It ensures that independently implements monetary policies that promote domestic price stability, currency issuance, regulation of financial sectors, holding and managing the official exchange reserves of the country as well as implementation of its independent recruitment policy.

Kiir, through his order, directed the leadership of the Bank of South Sudan to work with other financial institutions and individuals to implement the order without fail.

South Sudan is struggling with runaway inflation exacerbated by soaring consumer prices blighted by the short supply of goods and services in the market.

The foreign exchange market has been hit hard by a sharp decline in the value of the South Sudan Pound against the rising value of foreign currency, dominated by the United States dollar. This rise in foreign exchange rate and the fall in the value of local currency has been stoking tensions and fears it could push and persuade people to rise against the transitional government of national due to the rising cost of living in a country struggling to implement the September 2018 peace agreement.

(ST)