Sudan to launch new currency

Sudan will launch a new currency as part of a package of emergency economic measures, President Omar al-Bashir announced Tuesday, as Khartoum struggles to cope with soaring inflation and an expected drop in oil revenues. Addressing parliament just three days after the oil-producing south formally proclaimed independence from the north, Bashir said Sudan would have a new currency "in the coming days" as part of a three-year emergency programme. He also said there would be changes to the budget but "without any increase in taxation." With the secession of the south, where three-quarters of Sudan's oil was produced, Khartoum's total revenues are expected to drop by more than 36 percent, according to the country's finance minister. Under the three-year economic programme announced last month, Sudan's cash-strapped government plans to cut spending and widen the tax base to try to offset the economic impact of southern secession. South Sudan announced on Monday that it would launch its own currency after one week. The Sudanese pound, the existing currency in north and south, replaced the dinar in 2007 after the signing of the peace accord two years earlier. The pound has plunged in value over the past six months, mainly because of the surge in food prices and weak state finances. US economic sanctions and the country's huge foreign debt, estimated at around $38 billion (27.2 billion euros), have choked the government's access to external loans.