Sudan Inflation Reaches 54%

Sudan’s Ministry of Finance and National Economy said inflation rate has significantly increased during the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. The ministry said inflation has risen to 54% during the first quarter of 2018 compared to 33% in 2017, AllAfrica reported. The ministry report pointed to a number of challenges facing the Sudanese economy including the government subsidies for the fuel and drugs and the exchange rate policy. According to the report, the gross national product in the first quarter of 2018 reached 4% compared to 4.4% in 2017. It pointed out that the trade balance deficit has declined to $934 million compared to $947 million during the same period in 2017. In January, the director of the Troubled Currencies Program at Johns Hopkins University Steve Hanke said Sudan’s inflation has skyrocketed to a record high of 122% pointing the East African country “now has the second highest inflation rate in the world after Venezuela”. The government seeks to achieve an average inflation rate of 19.5% by the end of the 2018 fiscal year compared to 34.1% in 2017.