* Would pay for imports like food and fuel, minister says
* Pound currency has strengthened after interim oil deal
* South Sudan has cut back on imports since oil shutdown
By Alexander Dziadosz
JUBA, Sept 17 (Reuters) – South Sudan aims to seal a $200
million credit line from an international bank within three
months to cover imports and bolster the local currency, a
minister said, after an oil shutdown erased the source of almost
all its hard currency.
In June, the newly-independent nation secured a similar deal
for $100 million from Qatar National Bank (QNB), used
to issue letters of credit for imports like food, fuel, building
materials and medicine.
South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan last year under a 2005
peace deal, shut down its oil output of about 350,000 barrels
per day in January in a row over how much it should pay to
export through pipelines running through Sudanese territory.
The government still had about 20 percent of the QNB credit
line left and planned to use it over the next two months,
Commerce Minister Garang Diing Akuong said.
The letters of credit allow importers to buy dollars at the
bank rate of 3.16 pounds to the dollar – a big discount to the
black market price, he said.
Continued…
