Sudan is on the road to fiscal consolidation to be in the right side of multilateral financial institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and African Development Bank.
Recently, its Finance Minister Ibrahim Elbadawi spelt out the structural reforms the country is carrying out. Without divulging details of the steps being undertaken by the debt ridden country, he said that as part of the deal Sudan would not have to pay its lenders debt arrears. There could also be non-financial support being extended by the lending agencies and other friendly countries.
What that irked Sudan is its inclusion in the list of countries deemed sponsors of terrorism by the United States. That makes it ineligible for debt relief and financing from lenders like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which are the mainstay of funds for most of African countries including Sudan.
Elbadawi was recently in Washington, D.C. to attend the annual World Bank and IMF meetings. He also informed that negotiations with other creditors would begin in March. In addition, he disclosed that “friends of Sudan” will fund its 2020 budget. His ministry has forwarded 20 projects, which it hopes, will be funded by those countries. A “friends of Sudan” meeting is scheduled at Khartoum in December in the early weeks followed by another meeting of donor organizations
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had given Sudan US$3 billion in aid soon after the new regime took over in April this year. Now the effort of the new dispensation is to take its name out of the list of the U.S. sponsors of terrorism list, in order attract more investments into the country. In this regard, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok will visit Washington DC shortly to scout for more funds and support from the US administration besides lobbying for taking its name off the terrorism spreading countries.
