Sudan approved its first budget since Washington removed its name from its list of states sponsoring terrorism, and the budget gave priority to areas torn by violence, according to what the government announced. The Transitional Sovereignty Council revealed that its joint meeting with the Ministers had approved the budget for the current fiscal year 2021.
In this context, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in charge, Heba Ali, pointed out that this is the first budget prepared after the signing of the Sudan Peace Agreement in Juba, and the removal of Sudan's name from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism. Noting that the Ministry of Finance will take full advantage of all the opportunities that have been made available after the removal of Sudan from the countries sponsoring terrorism list, including openness to the international financial system, expectations of foreign investments, and all resulting agreements.
The government, formed in August 2019 under an agreement reached between the military and protest movement leaders, is working to rebuild an economy that has been undermined by decades of tight US sanctions and internal conflicts. Last December, the United States removed Sudan from its list of countries supporting terrorism, removing the sanctions and obstacles that were hindering international investment in this country.
The Sudanese authorities, in particular, hope that they will be able to reduce the inflation rate from more than 250 percent currently to 95 percent by the end of this year.
The government has allocated in the new budget $976 million in budgetary expenditures for the consolidation of peace and the development of marginalized and conflict-affected areas. It also allocated $1.7 billion to strengthen the country's fragile health system and enable it to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Source (Al-Arabiya.net website, Edited)
