South Sudan introduces treasury bills in a bid to raise money

The Bank of South Sudan (BoSS) issued a public notice on Thursday, August 18, calling on eligible bidders to apply for the auction of treasury bills worth 350 million South Sudan pounds (at least USD 8 million) at face value with 91-day maturity.

The Central Bank said competitive bids are subject to a maximum of SSP 10 million per investor, and are open to eligible financial institutions, corporate bodies, foreign and national individual investors and the public.

“This weekly offering is governed by the rules and regulations of Republic of South Sudan Treasury Bills, and it will become a recurring market-driven event,” the Central Bank said in a public notice on Thursday.

Central Bank Governor, Kornelio Koriom Mayik, said in April that the government through the Ministry of Finance would seek options of borrowing from the public to fund the operations of the government.

Analyst, James Alic Garang of the Ebony Center for Strategic Studies, a Juba-based thinktank, hailed the move as an important step in addressing the current economic turmoil facing South Sudan.

“If you have money sitting somewhere without being used, it will lose value because of the high inflation. So this is a great idea that has long been expected from the government. It will help the government and investors to raise more money,” said Garang.

South Sudan’s budget depends to 98 percent on oil revenues, but oil extraction was severely affected by the civil war that broke out in December 2013, forcing many of the oil companies to halt operations.

The inflation rate in South Sudan reached over 600 percent in August 2016, making it the highest in the world.