The South Sudanese pound has regained ground against the US dollar this week after Central Bank announced last Tuesday (13 April) that it will be auctioning five million dollars every week to Commercial Banks and Forex Bureaus operating in the country.
This according to the Governor of the Central Bank of South Sudan, Dier Tong is part of the bank’s efforts to stabilize the South Sudanese Pound exchange rate against the US Dollars.
On Friday, the pound opened averaging at 520 against the dollar, extending the gains that followed the 750 pounds to a dollar record low seen last year. Just last week, 1 dollar exchanged between 600 to 630 pounds.
Forex traders at Juba Town attributed the gain to Central Bank’s move to auction the US dollars weekly.
Three million United States Dollars will be auctioned to Commercial Banks and two million to forex bureaus weekly in the new plans.
The Central Bank’s governor, Dier Tong says the bank wants to control the excess liquidity in the hands of the public that according to him affects them and inflation. “We feel that the pressure on the pounds is because of excess liquidity and therefore we are doing auctions trying to mop that excess liquidity,” Dier Tong said at a presser last week.
It should be noted that the Bank of South Sudan has been auctioning US Dollars to forex bureaus since December 2015.
