It’s the same problem that did for long-standing rulers from Angola to Zimbabwe and may yet claim Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.
Sudan’s woes can be traced back to the secession of South Sudan in 2011, which saw it lose almost all its oil fields and 60 percent of fiscal revenue, according to the Institute of International Finance. But the government’s decision to ramp up spending while pegging its currency only exacerbated the situation.
The central bank devalued the pound almost 40 percent to 47.5 per dollar in October. But it was too little, too late. The currency’s black-market rate tumbled again and now stands at around 75 against the greenback. Inflation is almost 120 percent, according to Steve H. Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
And Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was forced out of power this month, faced his own currency problems. The 2014 crash in oil and gas prices crimped the Arab nation’s dollar earnings. While it avoided the kind of economic pain seen in Sudan, it spent more than $100 billion of reserves to prop up the dinar and avoid tough measures such as a devaluation or turning to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.
And is about to endorse one. Or not.
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