|
Sudan cut off from $650 million of international funding after coup
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Sudan was unable to access $650 million in international funding in November when assistance was paused after a coup, the finance minister of the dissolved government said - a freeze that puts in doubt basic import payments and the fate of economic reforms.The financing included $500 million in budget support from the World Bank and $150 million in special drawing rights from the International Monetary Fund, said Jibril Ibrahim, who was appointed to a civilian transitional government in February. Foreign funding was seen as crucial in helping Sudan emerge from decades of isolation and supporting a transition towards democracy that began with the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir  ...Former President-for-Life of Sudan He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself head cheese. He fell out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to ArabizeDarfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Hee was overthrown by popular consent in 2019. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it... The Oct. 25 coup upended that transition. The US has put on hold $700 million in economic assistance since the coup and the World Bank, which had promised $2 billion in grants, has paused disbursements. After mass protests, the military on Nov. 21 announced a deal to reinstate Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. He is tasked with forming a government of technocrats but faces political opposition to the deal. "Sudan had tremendous international support. Now donors will be much more cautious," said one former official from the dissolved government. The onus will now be on the military and the government to show they are not returning to the very Bashir-era model that was being restructured and reformed, the former official said. The US Treasury declined to comment. The IMF, which approved a $2.5 billion, 39-month loan program in June that is subject to periodic review, said it continued to "closely monitor developments". Before the coup the inflation rate, one of the highest in the world, had begun to fall, and the exchange rate had stabilized following a sharp devaluation in February. Posted by: Fred 2021-12-09 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=619509 |