By Deng Ghai Deng
July 23, 2025 – A prominent economics analyst in South Sudan has strongly cautioned against the central bank’s plan to print more currency, asserting it would only worsen the nation’s severe economic crisis.
Dr. Akim Ajieth Buny, a lecturer at the Dr. John Garang Memorial University of Science and Technology (DR. MUST), spoke out after the Governor of the Bank of South Sudan, Dr. Addis Ababa Othow, revealed an urgent plan to print more currency to address a crippling liquidity crisis affecting government salary payments. Othow disclosed the plan on Tuesday before the Finance and Economic Planning Committee of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly in Juba.
“Personally, I believe that this is not going to be the solution to the current economic crisis, because printing more money has never been a solution anywhere else — so it will never be a solution here in South Sudan,” Dr. Buny stated. “When you print more money, you put more of it into circulation, into people’s hands — that weakens the currency even more.”
Dr. Buny predicted a further weakening of the South Sudanese pound in the coming weeks or months. “For example, $100 could soon exchange for maybe 1,000,000 South Sudanese pounds or more. So clearly, printing more money is not the solution,” he emphasized.
Instead, Dr. Buny urged the South Sudanese government to acknowledge its overwhelming economic challenges and declare bankruptcy. He argued that “accepting defeat by the current economic situation will actually help the country.”
He suggested that if the government admits it cannot pay salaries — which have been delayed for 12 months — or that the pound is collapsing, international institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank could then step in with bailout packages.
However, Dr. Buny acknowledged that such a move would come with significant consequences. “The IMF and World Bank will demand reforms, including leadership changes — the President, Minister of Finance, and Central Bank Governor may be asked to step down,” he said. This, he speculated, is likely why the government is hesitant to declare bankruptcy, despite it being “the honest step toward reform and recovery.” He cited Greece and Cyprus in 2009-2010 as examples of countries that declared bankruptcy, received bailouts, and recovered after forming new leadership.
Another potential solution, according to Dr. Buny, is a change of currency. He believes introducing a new currency would force people hoarding money in homes to return it to banks. He stressed the need for strict regulations to limit withdrawals, such as capping them at 1,000 SSP or 5,000 SSP per day, to discourage hoarding and stabilize money flow. He warned that banks in South Sudan are currently running out of cash and face a risk of collapse.
Dr. Buny also proposed fixing the exchange rate against the US dollar, drawing a parallel to Saudi Arabia’s decision in 1986 to fix its riyal at 3.75 per dollar, a rate maintained to this day. He cautioned, however, that this strategy is only viable with a strong central bank reserve. He noted Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion in reserves and stressed that South Sudan must build and protect its own reserves through transparent management of oil and domestic revenue.
Once robust reserves are established, he explained, the Central Bank could release more dollars from the reserve to stabilize the market whenever the pound weakens.
Ultimately, Dr. Buny concluded that the biggest hurdle facing South Sudan’s economic recovery is a lack of “political will.” He asserted that despite having sufficient money and a small population, the country lacks the determination to implement necessary reforms. If this changes, he affirmed, “then recovery is absolutely possible.”