KHARTOUM — Sudan has resolved an dispute with the south by returning the payment of crucial oil revenues to hard currency, a senior southern government official said yesterday.
Last month, southern finance minister David Deng Athorbei accused the north of "deliberately" weakening the fledgling southern economy, by switching the south’s share of oil revenues from foreign currency to the Sudanese pound.
The central bank in Khartoum denied payments had changed.
However, southern finance ministry undersecretary Salvatore Garang Mabiordit confirmed the payment in foreign currency had returned. "There were meetings 10 days ago at a senior level to work this issue out, and we are thankful that the payments have now returned to normal," said Mabiordit, speaking from the southern capital Juba.
"This had been a big problem and a big concern, but it has now been resolved."
Sudan is sub-Saharan Africa’s third largest oil producer, providing as much as 98 percent of the southern government’s income.
Juba had said it would be unable to pay for key imports without its hard currency income from oil.
Under a 2005 peace agreement, the north and south are committed to splitting oil revenues equally, with the national unity government in Khartoum transferring the share in foreign currency. — AFP
The south is due in January to vote in a referendum on independence, set up under the peace deal, and many expect southerners to overwhelmingly back full independence.
The central bank previously blocked hard currency payments in June 2008, a situation resolved at the time by the intervention of senior southern leaders. — AFP