Sudanese Pound Hits Record Low as War Cripples Production

10 June 2026

A picture taken on January 21, 2020, shows a US 1 dollar bill and a Sudanese 100 pound bill at a brokerage in the capital Khartoum on January 21, 2020. (AFP photo)

June 10, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese pound has plunged to an unprecedented low against foreign currencies due to intense speculation and rising import demands amid a severe shortage of foreign exchange reserves.

The local currency has experienced a sustained decline driven by the prolonged war and a widening trade deficit, marked by weakening exports and rising imports.

Since the beginning of the year, foreign exchange rates have climbed significantly, with the U.S. dollar rising from 3,750 pounds to between 4,200 and 4,300 pounds.

Parallel market traders told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday that the pound fell further to 4,400 per dollar amid a surge in demand for the greenback and other foreign currencies.

The Saudi riyal reached 1,140 Sudanese pounds, the UAE dirham hit 1,171 Sudanese pounds, the euro was trading at 5,058 Sudanese pounds, and the British pound reached 5,810 Sudanese pounds, while the Egyptian pound was recorded at 90 Sudanese pounds.

A trader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there is high demand for foreign currency to fund fuel imports, alongside speculative activity among currency traders seeking to secure large dollar volumes.

Banking expert Waleed Dalil said the depreciation of the pound poses a severe economic challenge that directly affects citizens’ daily lives, noting that inflation has reached record highs due to the conflict’s toll on infrastructure and financial institutions.

Dalil attributed the currency’s collapse to the halt in domestic production and the collapse of exports.

Vital sectors such as agriculture, industry, and mining face near-total paralysis across many regions due to instability and disrupted supply chains, Dalil said, adding that this has led to a near-absence of export revenues from gold and agricultural products, while the country increasingly relies on imports, driving up dollar demand.

Expatriate remittances through official channels have also dropped by over 70% due to disruptions to the banking system and the central bank at various times, Dalil added.

International support, loans, and economic grants that previously bolstered foreign exchange reserves have been frozen, compounded by a fiscal deficit and the printing of unbacked currency.

Dalil said the government has resorted to deficit financing to cover rising expenditures and manage emergencies, printing new banknotes without backing from production or gold, thereby expanding the money supply and sharply reducing purchasing power.

The financial weight has shifted entirely to the black market because official banks are unable to provide foreign currency to importers and citizens, making currency pricing subject to aggressive speculation and panic buying, Dalil added.

Economic analyst Haitham Mohamed Fathi said Sudan is experiencing a severe contraction across productive sectors, including industry, mining, oil, and agriculture, a trend that has worsened during the war.

Traders, smugglers, and speculators have capitalized on the country’s shifting economic structure as a trade-and-services economy rises at the expense of industrial and agricultural production, Fathi added.

Stabilizing the Sudanese pound depends on the transitional government’s ability to implement fundamental structural reforms, including restructuring financial institutions, curbing inflation, and supporting productive sectors to revive the economy, Fathi said.

Fathi noted that the growing debate over importing strategic goods, particularly fuel, has directly affected commodity prices across the production and transport chains, and has been worsened by the loss of oil-producing areas and erratic transit revenues from South Sudan’s oil.

The Sudanese economy is caught in a complex crisis in which economic, monetary, and political variables intersect, exacerbated by a lack of international cooperation and the halt in foreign financial assistance, Fathi said.

Market fears fueled by the pound’s depreciation have trapped the currency in a vicious cycle of depreciation and inflation, leaving the central bank with limited tools to manage current economic conditions, Fathi added.