The new governor of the Bank of South Sudan on Tuesday announced that they will auction an increased amount of USD 13 million to forex bureaus and commercial banks on a weekly basis in an effort to mitigate a run on the South Sudanese Pound (SSP).
Governor Moses Makur Deng announced that the Central Bank increased the amount to be auctioned to forex bureaus from USD 2 million to 5 million and that to banks from USD 3 million to 8 million to fight the rise in the dollar rate.
“The committee reacted swiftly by increasing the frequency and volume of the United States dollars that we are injecting into the market,” Governor Makur declared. “We have increased the amount to be auctioned to forex bureaus from USD 2 million to 5 million and we have increased for banks from USD 3 million to 8 million. So, we are going to inject a total of USD 13 million a week to fight this temporary increase in the dollar rate.”
He added: “We will continue to do that until the dollar is stabilized where we want it to be. We know where we want it to be and we will continue to intervene. But as I said, as we approach the end of January, the rate will begin to come down dramatically.”
The Central Bank chief said that unless there are speculative activities involved, the increased amount of US dollars to be injected into the market will bring down the dollar rate.
“Unless there are speculative activities, the amount is too big for this market for the dollar to continue to go up,” Governor Makur said.
Regarding the skyrocketing commodity prices, he absolved the Central Bank and said the institution was not responsible for controlling market prices but attributed it to an increase in taxation rates.