Sudan will not lift subsidies this year on wheat, cooking gas or furnace oil, which is used to produce electricity, finance minister Jibril Ibrahim said on Wednesday, a day after subsidies on gasoline and diesel were fully lifted.
Ibrahim said the government is committed to removing the so-called customs exchange rate, used to determine import duties on a range of goods, but is studying tariff levels to ensure that consumer prices are not affected.
Sudan is implementing a raft of IMF-monitored reforms, including a currency devaluation, in hopes of alleviating a protracted economic crisis and attracting foreign financing.
Ibrahim also said he was studying wide-ranging reforms for the banking system.
Sudan produced 400,000 tons of wheat in the past season which was disappointing, Jibril said. This accounted for a quarter of the country's needs of 1.6 million tons.
