Sudan .. Memorandum of Understanding with the US Treasury to pay the country's arrears to the World Bank

The head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, expressed during his meeting with US Secretary of Treasury Stephen Mnuchin in Khartoum, his country's keenness to develop its strategic relations with the United States.

The visit is the first for a senior US official after the name of Sudan was removed from the US list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

Al-Burhan said that strengthening relations between the two countries would focus on all fields, especially the economic ones.

For its part, the American delegation affirmed that the United States seeks to enhance joint cooperation with Sudan to overcome the challenges it faces.

In the meantime, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held talks with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok on aid provided by Washington, the economic situation, debt write-offs, trade and investment.

The transitional government is seeking to write off foreign debts amounting to nearly $ 60 billion, as part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Relief Initiative.

Washington has allocated one billion and 100 million dollars in aid to Sudan this year, according to the Democratic Transition Support Act, which was recently passed by Congress.

The country is suffering from an economic crisis, as the inflation rate exceeds 250%, and the pound is declining sharply against the dollar.

Hamdok discussed with the US Secretary of the Treasury the economic files (Sudanese press)

 Memorandum of Understanding

In a related context, the Sudanese Ministry of Finance and the US Treasury signed a memorandum of understanding to pay Sudan’s arrears to the World Bank.

The signing ceremony took place between the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in charge, Heba Muhammad Ali, and the US Secretary of the Treasury, Stephen Mnuchin.

The Sudanese minister indicated that the memorandum would enable Sudan to obtain more than one billion dollars annually from the World Bank for the first time in 27 years.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in charge of Sudan said that international finance will support the achievement of economic stability in conjunction with the reforms implemented by the transitional government.

For his part, the US Treasury Secretary affirmed that his visit to Khartoum is a recognition of the importance of relations between Sudan and the United States, and added that US funding for Sudan will open the door for him to obtain aid and financing from the Bank and the International Monetary Fund.