South Sudan Devalues Currency by 84% as Dollar Peg Abandoned
- Central bank adopts black market rate as official rate flouted
- Floating currency may help boost economy, BI's Bohlund says
A man holds a stack of ten South Sudanese pound banknotes in South Sudan.
Photographer: Trevor Snapp/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
South Sudan devalued its currency by 84 percent as the government allowed the pound to trade freely, surrendering to prices charged in the black market.
The central bank adopted the parallel market rate of 18.5 per dollar on Tuesday from a previous fixed rate of 2.96, Governor Kornelio Koriom Mayik told reporters in Juba, the capital. The regulator will supply the market with occasional dollar sales, he said.