President Kiir fires Central Bank governor
President Salva Kiir has fired the governor of the Central Bank of South Sudan, Dier Tong Ngor.
In a Presidential Decree number 06/2022, read on the state-run broadcaster SSBC TV, Mr Ngor has been replaced by the Director-General for Banking Supervision at the Central Bank, Moses Makur Deng. No reason was attached to the sacking of the former governor.
Mr Ngor’s sacking comes exactly two years after he was appointed to the country’s supreme bank on November 2, 2020. Ngor replaced Jamal Wani Abdalla who was also kicked out in a shake-up that had no explanations. Abdalla was removed after serving for eight months.
Speaking during the swearing-in of the former governor, which was presided over by Chief Justice Chan Reech Madut, President Kiir appealed to Mr Ngor to stabilise the economy by using the available financial instruments.
“I appealed to you to work hard with your colleagues from the banking system and the concerned institutions to stabilize the market price,’’ the president urged.
“It is upon all of us to work collectively as a team to recover the economy that has been affected by the external factors,” he added.
After taking the oath, the former governor made a bold pledge that he would consult with the members of the executive as well as with the relevant institutions to ensure the economy stabilises.
“I have worked in the bank for years and I assure you the people of South Sudan that I will improve the banking system,’’ said Ngor.
Inflation
In his tenure, South Sudan suffered a drastic hike in the level of inflation, marred by the skyrocketing prices of goods. As an instance, the dollar traded against the South Sudanese Pound at 600 in the black market and the change could be drastic within a span of hours.
Nonetheless, Mr Ngor embarked on sanctioning the dollars to mop out the foreign currency and give the local currency a facelift in mid-2021. This paid off, and the dollar later traded against the SSP at 400 in the black market, but the change is yet to be felt since the prices of commodities remain unchanged. He will be remembered for introducing SSP1,000 banknotes, which he said would reduce inflation.
