(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
AFP
Port Sudan, Sudan: Dozens of Sudanese demonstrated outside the seat of the government in port Sudan on Tuesday to protest against its move to enact a partial currency swap.
People walk past vendors at a market in Sudan's northeastern Red Sea city of Port Sudan on December 31, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
The army-backed government had set a Monday deadline for residents of the six states under its control to swap old 500 and 1,000 Sudanese pound banknotes for new ones.
But as dozens protested outside government offices in the Red Sea port city on Tuesday, information minister Khalid al-Aiser announced that residents would have until January 6 to replace their old notes.
The value of the Sudanese pound has plummeted during 20 months of fighting between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, from 500 to the dollar in April 2023 to 2,500 to the dollar now.
People walk past vendors at a market in Sudan's northeastern Red Sea city of Port Sudan on December 31, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted more than 12 million and left no sector of the economy unscathed. The army-backed government says the partial currency swap aims to "protect the national economy and combat criminal operations" by counterfeiters.
But the arrival of Monday's deadline paralysed transport and trade in Port Sudan, the country's main export outlet.
Bus drivers, petrol stations and store owners refused to accept the old banknotes, while banks had only limited supplies of the new notes, AFP correspondents reported.
People struggling to commute gather in Port Sudan as local transportation is strangled after government authorities reportedly changed two currency notes, invalidating old notes, on December 30, 2024, in the army-controlled Red Sea city city, where the government is based. (Photo by AFP)
Many Sudanese accused the administration of placing an extra burden on the war-weary and increasingly impoverished population.
Critics have also warned that the move risks adding an economic dimension to the divide between areas under army control and those held by the RSF.
The RSF now controls nearly all the western region of Darfur and swathes of the centre and south, while the army holds the north and east.
Greater Khartoum is split between the warring sides.
The RSF has already banned the use of the new notes in areas under its control and accused the army of "a conspiracy to divide the country".
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