Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) – Sudanese could shortly use their currency in Ethiopia and the Ethiopians could do the same with theirs in Sudan, a senior Sudanese financial official has announced.
According to the Governor of the Sudanese Central Bank, Sudan was considering unification of its currency with Ethiopia as a step for the formation of a strong economic bloc in East Africa.
Abdul Rahman Hassan Abdul Rahman, Governor of the Central Bank of Sudan, was on Saturday quoted by Al-Sudani daily, which has strong links to the government, as saying there were currently “serious efforts” to unify the currencies of the two countries in light of a recent expansion in transactions between Sudanese and Ethiopian banks.
He did not, however, give details.
The Ethiopian birr will be circulated in Sudan while the Sudanese pound will be used in Ethiopia, the Governor said, adding that a branch of the Ethiopian Commercial Bank would be opened in Sudan in the next three months.
The envisaged arrangement will be beneficial to investors and to trade, he argued.
Sudanese are the second largest group of investors in Ethiopia, according to the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Haile Mariam Desalgen.
Ethiopians constitute the largest foreign community groups especially in Khartoum and in eastern Sudan.
