(MENAFN) South Sudan's Commerce Minister, Garang Diing Akuong, stated that the country seeks to secure a USD200 million loan from an international bank within 3 months, reported Reuters.
Akuong said that the amount would be used to cover imports and boost the South Sudanese Pound.
The country lost nearly 98 percent of its revenues, as it had to close its oil production of around 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January in a dispute over how much it should pay to export its oil via pipelines running through Sudanese territory.
On annual basis, South Sudan loses approximately USD1 billion in hard currency to Kenya and Uganda through remittances, informal trade and imports of goods, including medicine, cement, clothes, furniture and food.
The nation secured a similar deal for USD100 million from a Qatari commercial bank in June, and the amount was used to issue letters of credit for imports, however, around 20 percent of the credit line is still available, and the government plans to use it over the next 2 months.
It is worth noting that over the last few months, the deal managed to help the country's currency strengthen on the black market from nearly 5.5 pounds to the US dollar to around 4.2 at the current time.
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