President Omar al-Bashir on Monday announced a fresh raft of measures aimed at salvaging protest-hit Sudan’s deteriorating economy.
Addressing supporters in the northern city of Al-Abyad, al-Bashir announced his decision to eliminate value-added taxes on microfinance projects.
His government, he said, also planned to reclaim land allocated earlier to investors and “reallocate it to small-and medium-sized enterprises”.
Al-Bashir went on to announce that cost-plus financing at the country’s Islamic banks would be reduced to a maximum of 5 percent, down from between 12 and 15 percent previously.
Sudan’s leadership hopes that the measures will serve to calm the Sudanese street, which has been rocked by a wave of popular protest since mid-December.
Demonstrators in steadily increasing numbers decry the failure of al-Bashir and his ruling National Congress Party to remedy Sudan’s chronic socio-economic ills.
Sudanese authorities say around 30 people have been killed since the protests began, but unofficial sources put the number at closer to 50.
A nation of some 40 million, Sudan has struggled to recover from the loss of three quarters of its oil output -- its main source of foreign currency -- since the secession of South Sudan in 2011.
Anadolu Agency
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