Sudan Suffers Severe Cash Shortage and Steep Interest Rates

El Obeid / Nyala / El Geneina / Port Sudan — Residents in North Kordofan’s capital of El Obeid are grappling with a severe cash liquidity crisis. There is a significant shortage of cash in banks, with one trader from the El Obeid Crops Stock Exchange telling Radio Dabanga, “Most banks lack cash liquidity, while the interest rate on transfers have surged to 15 per cent.”

The liquidity crisis is attributed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) demand for fees from cargo trucks in cash or…