A 100 United States dollar note. | Photo: File

The Bank of South Sudan said it has canceled the auctioning of US dollars to commercial banks and Forex bureaus after the foreign exchange committee observed irregularities.

The decision was reached after the Auction Supervisory Committee met on Friday morning over the mater.

The meeting endorsed the cancellation and called for punitive measures against violation of the Bank of South Sudan foreign exchange rules and procedures.

The meeting was attending by Governor of the Bank and his 1^st Deputy for policy and banking.

The cancellation comes a day after the bank announced auctioning of five million US dollars to commercial banks and forex bureaus in Juba.

The Bank also said it has noted “with concern the FX market volatility and further depreciation of the South Sudanese pounds” against the US dollars since the beginning of the year.

It blames the depreciation of the local currency to the conflict in Sudan and the hikes in U.S. interest rate.

The Central Bank has been using the auctioning policy, which has been criticized by economists, as a measure to curb the depreciation of the pounds that sends prices skyrocketing.