This archive report was first published on 24 August 2020.
South Sudan's economy is facing a severe crisis, with the country's foreign exchange reserves depleted and the pound's value rapidly depreciating. According to Daniel Kech Pouch, the second deputy governor of the Bank of South Sudan, the country is struggling to stop the exchange rate's increase due to a lack of resources and reserves.
South Sudan relies heavily on crude oil revenue, but production has plummeted from 250,000 barrels per day in 2013 to around 180,000 bpd currently. This decline, combined with rampant corruption, has led to a severe economic crisis.
Corruption is a major driver of the crisis, with officials using the central bank as their personal ATM, according to Brian Adeba, deputy director of policy at The Sentry. The government has denied these allegations.
The conflict in South Sudan, which ended in 2018, has left the country with a long road to recovery. The war displaced around a third of the population, killed an estimated 400,000 people, and created Africa's biggest refugee crisis since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Experts warn that the economic blunders made by the Bank of South Sudan and the ministry of finance could have serious consequences for the peace agreement and create fear among the population.
