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S. Sudan new central bank chief vows to tackle hyper inflation

Xinhua, January 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

South Sudan's newly appointed central bank chief Othom Rago Ajak said on Tuesday that he will prioritize tackling hyper inflation that has slowed down economic activity in the war-torn country.

"The problem of South Sudan is inflation, unstable exchange rate. We shall be working to address these issues and hopefully we shall do something about it," Ajak told journalists in Juba.

Ajak, a career banker replaced sacked Kornelio Koryom at the helm of the bank of South Sudan. Koryom was sacked on Saturday by President Salva Kiir.

Ajak added that the task at hand was overwhelming, due to the fact that the oil-dependent needs external support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and donors to save its economy from the brink of collapse,

"There are many challenges which we can solve within the banking system, but some are external (challenges), those within the banking system we shall be able to do something," he revealed.

South Sudan amid ongoing fighting has seen annual inflation peak 835.7 percent by the end of October alone, amid the South Sudanese Pound (SSP) shedding more value against the U.S. dollar that has driven up prices of basic goods.

The more than three years of conflict in the oil-dependent country, amid global fall in oil prices caused decline in production in the northern oil fields of Upper Nile and Unity states, hence dwindling oil revenues that finance 98 percent of it's fiscal budget.

"If there is shortage of supply, price must go up. So people will always hope you avail the supply," he said.

In June, last year IMF cautioned South Sudan to cut unnecessary expenditure on non-productive sectors, clean the payroll and boost non-oil revenue to cushion its weak economy.

But analysts warned that the continued pursuit of military solution the ongoing conflict will drain the meager resource envelope due to weapons purchase. Endit