|
Currency and banking
Currency
All financial transactions were and still are made in the Sudanese
Dinar (SD), which was introduced a few years ago to replace the
Sudanese pound. The exchange rate as of January 2007 was roughly
US$1 to 200SD. Despite replacing the Sudanese Pound with the Dinar,
most people still verbally refer to the Dinar as the former pound
and convert accordingly. The rate is 1SD to 10 Sudanese pounds.
In January of this year, the Central Bank of Sudan has started the
circulation of Sudanese pounds as a currency to take over from the
Dinar. However, it is expected that the pound's introduction will
not be a quick process.
The new Sudanese pound is worth exactly hundred times the currently
used Dinar, meaning that 100 dinar bills will be changed into new
one-pound banknotes. One-Dinar coins - the lowest entity in
circulation - will be changed into one-piaster coins. The largest
banknotes issued are denominated 50 pounds.
Banking
Most expatriates hold bank accounts at the El Mashreq Bank, the
Sudanese-French Bank or the Saudi-Sudanese Bank. Government
regulation permits expatriate personnel to operate both US dollar
and Sudanese Dinar accounts.
Credit cards and travellers’ cheques are not accepted in Khartoum.
It is not possible to obtain cash against credit cards at banks.
Ensure that you have sufficient hard currency, preferably US
Dollars, to cover expenses.
|
