KHARTOUM) - The Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) has yet to issue rules that would govern transactions of Visa & MasterCard denominated cards in the country, banking sources said.

The Central Bank of Sudan premises (File photo)

These sources said that CBoS is more than three months late in publishing the pertinent regulations and has not committed to a specific timeframe either.

It is not clear what is causing the delay and a CBoS official would not offer any further details when reached by Sudan Tribune.

Earlier this year, seven Sudanese banks obtained licenses from the two major payments processing networks.

These prepaid cards would be topped up with hard currency for use inside and outside Sudan. Credit card services will not be offered at this stage, however.

CBoS had proposed having the card limit at $3,000 which is the maximum amount allowed for Sudanese traveling abroad.

Sudan has been left out of the international financial system since the imposition of comprehensive economic sanctions in 1997.

These sanctions were lifted in 2017 and this month Sudan was also removed from the list of states sponsoring terrorism which is expected to open new opportunities for the country’s ailing financial sector.

The Sudanese economy has deteriorated sharply since the ouster of President Omer Hassan al-Bashir in April 2019 with inflation & exchange rate running in triple digits.

sudantribune