Sudan’s national currency has hit an all-time low on the black market, as the country’s war-driven crisis deepens.
In Port Sudan, traders said the pound plunged to 3,000 against the US dollar this week, down from 2,600 in early July. Before the war began in April 2023 between the general Abdel Fattah al Burhan’s army and Rapid Support Forces, it traded around 500 per dollar.
The recent collapse is fuelled by soaring demand for dollars to fund essential imports like food, fuel, and medicine. With state institutions shattered and revenue sources gone, Sudan is running dry of foreign currency.
“Key sources like oil fees, remittances, and foreign loans have vanished due to the war,” economist Haitham Fathi explained. The Central Bank maintains an official rate of 445 per dollar, but it holds little power in a broken economy.
With formal banks paralysed, most Sudanese turn to informal dealers, worsening the pound’s volatility. Skyrocketing prices are tightening the noose on households, with official inflation at 105 percent — and possibly much higher.
“Every time the dollar rises, prices do too — even for local products,” said civil servant Amna Hassan in Wad Madani. She added, “Our salaries are worthless now. We’ve lost everything to this war.”
Sudan’s economy was already brittle, reliant on South Sudanese oil transit, modest exports, and foreign aid. Since the conflict erupted, over 14 million people have been displaced and infrastructure decimated, including ports and banks.
Famine has taken hold in parts of Darfur and the south, with aid groups warning of mass starvation in coming weeks. As war rages and money loses meaning, daily survival in Sudan grows ever more desperate.
