Photo- International Monetary Fund (IMF) team met with South Sudan's Finance Minister (Ministry of Finance and Planning/ Facebook)

The African Time Monitoring

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team met with South Sudan's finance minister to discuss the need to help "ensuring that South Sudan can solicit more funds from the global financial institutions and channel them to support the national budget and boost developmental activities." 

The discussions came as South Sudan faces unprecedented challenges owing to the pandemic, rising international fuel and food prices from the war in Ukraine, and three consecutive years of extensive floods.

The IMF has been working with South Sudan to address the economic crisis. In March 2019, an IMF staff team completed a visit to South Sudan to discuss the country's economic situation and policies. 

In March 2022, an IMF staff team visited South Sudan to hold discussions on the second review of the staff monitored programme and Article IV consultation. In May 2023, an IMF staff team concluded a mission to South Sudan for the mid-term review of a staff monitored programme with board involvement. In November 2022, the IMF reached a staff-level agreement with the Republic of South Sudan on the third review.

The discussions between the IMF team and South Sudan's finance minister are part of ongoing efforts to address the economic crisis in the country. The IMF team's focus on helping South Sudan solicit more funds from global financial institutions and channel them to support the national budget and boost developmental activities is a positive step towards addressing the economic crisis in the country.

South Sudan is facing a deep economic crisis following several years of conflict over disagreements about plans for a political transition and the integration of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the army, four years after former ruler Omar al-Bashir was ousted from power. The conflict has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced another 6.5 million, causing a humanitarian crisis. The conflict has also caused the decimation of the economy.