Bundle of US dollars. (Courtesy).

The Bank of South Sudan has reintroduced auctioning of US dollars to commercial banks and Forex bureaus amid the weakening of South Sudanese Pounds against US dollars.

According to two separate circulars issued today by the Bank’s Directorate of Currency and Banking, the auctioning will be five million US dollars.

The auction will start with three million US dollars to eligible commercial Banks and two million US dollars to Forex bureaus.

The Central Bank said the sale of hard currency will be held on Thursday 16^th February 2023.

The Bank believes that the auction of the hard currency to both the forex bureaus and commercial banks is likely to prevent further depreciation of the South Sudanese pound against the U.S. dollar.

The Central Bank said the auctioning policy, which has been criticized by economists, will reportedly be governed by its Foreign Exchange Auction Rules and Procedures.

As of today February 14, 2023, one dollar sells at about 795 in the parallel black market while the official rate is roughly 762 South Sudanese pounds.

Previously, the Bank of South Sudan used to auction between 4 million and 6 million dollars per week.

The auction comes a few days after the Bank of South Sudan attributed the rise in the value of the US dollar against the local currency due to the hikes of interest rates by the US Federal Reserve.