Sudan postpones lifting of subsidies for 3 months

KHARTOUM, SUDAN

Sudan’s Cabinet decided to postpone the lifting of the fuel subsidies for three months, said the information minister and spokesman for the transitional government on Sunday.

The decision came a day after the government decided to lift the subsidies of the fuel products gradually.

Faisal Mohamed Saleh addressed reporters in the capital Khartoum after a meeting between the council of ministers and the ruling coalition of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC).

He said the gradual lifting of the subsidies was postponed until March to hold an economic conference to discuss the 2020 budget and the entire economic crises of Sudan since the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir in April.

"We are very keen to take opinions of our people into consideration and this is why we postpone the removal of the subsidies in order to enable more discussions with our people over the budget,” he stated.

The Sudanese Finance Minister Ibrahim Elbadawi announced Friday that the Cabinet decided to lift the fuel subsidies and to increase the wages %100 as well as a rise for the subsidies for the health and education services.

However the announcement was rejected by the FFC and the Sudanese Professional Association (SPA) which led the protests in Sudan from December 2018 to April 2019 over economic hardships and soaring prices.

The decision to lift subsidies was delayed twice in the past few days.