Sudan’s annual inflation rate has slowed, state media reported Tuesday, the first decline in price growth since the ouster of autocrat Omar al-Bashir more than two years ago.
“The inflation rate was recorded at 387. 56 percent (year-on-year) in August, compared to 422.75 percent in July,” the official SUNA news agency reported, citing a statement by the Central Bureau for Statistics.
It attributed the decline in part to a slowing of hikes on food prices in August.
Sudan has long been reeling from economic crises that deepened after Bashir’s ouster in April 2019, which itself followed mass protests triggered by economic hardship.
In August 2019, a transitional government was installed with an eye to fixing the economy battered by decades of US sanctions and mismanagement under Bashir.
In recent months, the government embarked on tough economic reforms, including slashing subsidies on petrol and diesel and instating a managed currency float.
The steps were backed by the International Monetary Fund to enable Sudan to qualify for debt relief.
In June, the IMF approved a $2.5 billion loan and debt relief deal that will see Sudan’s external debt reduced by some $50 billion.