South Sudan wants to bring to an end the scarcity of the dollar by doubling the previous foreign currency allocation to commercial banks and foreign exchange bureaus.
This move comes days after the ministry of interior issued an order banning illegal money exchangers who are largely accused by the Central Bank for causing the hard currency shortagge.Addressing the press yesterday, the Governor of the Central Bank of South Sudan, Kornelio Koriom Mayik, said the commercial banks will start receiving four million US dollars each month instead of the current two million.
He added that the forex bureaus will receive 400 thousand US dollars weekly, instead of 200 thousand.
The lack of dollars soared in the recent months after the introduction of the South Sudan Pound, causing the new currency to decrease in value sharply sliding to over four pounds against the dollar on the black market.
Dollar trading on the black market is mainly run by young boys who buy the dollar at a cheaper price and sell it expensively.
These boys have become a last resort for many people seeking access to dollars.
Although people claim that there is a currency leakage from officials in the Central Bank, Mr. Koriom denied dealing with those boys.
He said the Central Bank has not issued any licence for these boys.
To stabilise the Foreign exchange market, Mr. Koriom said strengthened measures to punish black market traders and illegal money exchangers will be put in place.
Mr. Kariom says the decision to double the foreign currency to the market is a result of a survey conducted by the Central Bank indicating that the allocated foreign exchange is limited compared to the soaring demand.