(Ecofin Agency) - The government of Sudan has announced the temporary ban of 19 products including food products. The measure came into effect last Thursday and it aims to protect the local currency and reduce the county’s budget deficit.

It is implemented as the Sudanese pound keeps falling to the dollar since the lifting of US economic sanctions. This will lead to a boost of Sudan’s imports and affect availability of foreign currencies in the country. Indeed, though the Central bank has kept exchange rate at 6.7 Sudanese pounds for a dollar, the scarcity of the currency in the formal circuit forces importers to turn towards the black market.

On this market, the rate was 27 Sudanese pounds for a dollar, the apex bank revealed last month. The institution had at the time announced emergency measures to reverse the trend, but performances recorded so far are mitigated as, according to Reuters, the exchange rate is currently at 25 pounds for a dollar on the black market.

Aaron Akinocho