Page 19 - DMEA Week 42

DMEA FUELS DMEA

World Bank, partner states to help

fund Sudan’s fuel price reforms

SUDAN THE World Bank has offered Sudan’s transi- “The numbers circulating in the local media
tional government a grant of $200mn to support about fuel prices are just guesses.” He further
Sudan has experienced efforts to reform the economy, including the stated that the Ministry of Energy and Mining
widespread fuel energy sector. would not be setting fuel prices, as this would be
shortages in recent The reform agenda includes liberalisation the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance or
months. measures tying domestic fuel prices, which have the Council of Ministers.
long been subsidised, to world market levels, The World Bank is not the only entity that
local press sources reported earlier this week. will be supporting Sudan’s fuel price reforms and
Radio Dabanga noted that pricing formulae other economic liberalisation measures. Partner
would take logistical costs related to transpor- states, working through the Sudan Transition
tation and distribution into account but did not Support Trust, have agreed to provide another
elaborate. It did, however, quote Energy and $200mn worth of funding, bringing the total
Mining Minister Kheiri Abdelrahman as saying value of the grant package to $400mn.
that the government would refer to the parallel Sudan has experienced widespread fuel short-
market when setting prices in Sudanese pounds. ages in recent months. The transitional govern-
Abdelrahman went on to say that the tran- ment, which took power after President Omar
sitional government had been working since al-Bashir was deposed by the military last year,
August to lay the groundwork for the liberali- has attributed the supply crunch to a blockage in
sation of domestic fuel prices. Officials in Khar- the pipeline that pumps crude oil from fields in
toum expect to wrap up this process by the end Kordofan State to the Khartoum refinery. It has
of October, he said. tried to cover gaps with imported fuel, but the
The minister dismissed recent speculation dependence on foreign suppliers has drained the
about the details of new pricing policies, saying: country’s foreign currency reserves. ™

Week 42 22•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P19