Sudan Permits Gold Exports by Local Private Sector Firms

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Sudan -the Northeast African gold producing country announced plans to grant gold export permits to local companies operating in private sector. The decision comes as part of government’s efforts to tackle illegal gold smuggling and boost domestic economy. Incidentally, estimates suggest that nearly 70% of the gold produced in the country is illegally exported to overseas destinations.

Currently, only foreign gold-mining companies were allowed to export gold in Sudan. The new decision by the government will allow domestic miners to export gold for the first time.

The inclusion of the local private sector in gold export is likely to ease the Sudanese Central bank’s grip over gold exports. However, the central bank will initiate necessary steps of action to ensure that entire gold exports are routed through the national economy. The producers will be required to sell foreign currency revenues to the country’s central bank, said Sudanese Prime Minister Moataz Moussa.

Meanwhile, Abdel Monem al-Siddiq, Head of Gold Exporters Union expressed their willingness to sell all revenues from gold exports to the central bank at the real current rate of local currency. The government had earlier set up a committee to oversee the price on a daily basis, in concurrence with the international gold prices. The committee, in turn, will set the purchase price for gold. The agreed price would be higher than the prevailing exchange rate of Sudanese pounds against the US dollar, Monem al-Siddiq said.