Historical Sketch

In the 1970s, a civil war broke out in Sudan between the Christian-animist south and the Islamist central government. The military victory of the secessionist forces led to the 2005 peace agreement which provided for an independence referendum. In 2011, South Sudan seceded and became an independent republic.

Monetary History Overview

With independence in July 2011, South Sudan created the South Sudanese Pound as the national currency, the Sudanese banknotes and coins were exchanged within six weeks. The Bank of South Sudan had already begun operations in 2005 as agreed in the peace agreement. At that time, it was merely a branch of the Central Bank of Sudan, the full functions of a central bank were take over with the bank law of September 2011. The Pound was first pegged to the US Dollar but in December 2015, the fixed rate could no longer be kept. The floating of the exchange rate led to an immediate 85% drop and was followed by another 90% decline until 2018. After a brief stabilization, the Pound has lost another 65% of value during the first 2020s.

South Sudan joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 18.04.2012.

Currency Units Timeline

Currency Institutes Timeline

Monetary History Sources