July 23, 2019

by bss

Conclusions of the 2″’ Quarter Ordinary Meetings of Board of Directors

PRESS STATEMENT

Conclusions of the 2″’ Quarter Ordinary Meetings of Board of Directors of Bank of South Sudan, held between 17″ to 19¢ July 2019

The Board of Directors of the Bank of South Sudan (BSS) has just concluded today, 19″ July 2019 its 2″ Quarter Ordinary meetings in the year 2019 The meetings were held at the Bank of South Sudan HQs in Juba between Wednesday 17″ and Friday 19″ July 2019. During the meetings, the Board reviewed and deliberated on a range of issues, covering the general macroeconomic outlook and the review of the performance of the Bank of South Sudan during the past six months. The Board also discussed and approved a number of policy documents and issues related to the welfare of the employees of the Bank. Below we provided the summary of the Board deliberations and the actions taken:

1. The Board reviewed the general macroeconomic outlook. The review covered the prevailing global macroeconomic outlook, including the expectations and trends of the international oil prices and oil production.
   The discussions also covered the developments in the advanced and emerging economies, with particular focus on the developments in the East African Region.
2. With respect to South Sudan, the Board noted that South Sudan macroeconomic outlook is starting to show some signs of recovery. The signing of the Revitalized Peace Agreement; the launching of the various infrastructural projects by the government, including the oil for roads  projects, progress with the power projects, the launch of the fiber optic project, and others, all provide positive signals to the direction for economic recovery. .
3. The Board also reviewed the developments in the monetary sector. The Board noted the tight monetary policy stance adopted by the Bank of South Sudan, which have favorably slowed the pace at which money supply was growing. Net Foreign Assets (NFA) is also showing signs of improvement. Inflation and the exchange rate has started to moderate. 4.
4. . With these developments in the general macroeconomic environment in the country, the improvements in the real sector of the economy (increase in oil production) and the signs of monetary sector stability, the Bank of South Sudan projects the GDP growth to reach 5% by the end of 2019.

5. The Board also discussed and approved the amendment of the Minimum Reserve Requirement (MRR). This amendment is aimed at streamlining the effectiveness of the Minimum Reserve Ratio, as an instrument for monetary policy implementation. The amendment separates the calculation of the MRR in both local and foreign currency. Detailed instructions will be issued to banks.

6.  The Bank also discussed and approved some internal policies that are aimed at making the work of the Bank more transparent and accountable. In this respect, the Board has approved the Whistleblowing policy. This policy addresses the Bank commitment to integrity and ethical behaviour of its staff. The policy will foster an environment where employees can report misconduct or breach of laws and regulations that may adversely impact the Bank performance.

7. . The Board also discussed the 2″ quarter financial performance of the Bank, in terms of the Bank budgetary performance during the period. In | this regard, the board noted with satisfaction the strong financial results in the 2™ quarter of 2019. The board directed the management to continue to streamline the procurement procedures in the Bank to create more efficiency.

8.  The Board also discussed and agreed on a number of measures to improve the welfare of Bank of South Sudan employees, including issues relating to pay, pension scheme, medical insurance, and other measures that can improve the working conditions of the employees of the Bank.

9 . Before we closed this press briefing I want to make an announcement on the foreign exchange operations. Due to the impact of the exchange rate on inflation in the country, the Bank has always given attention to supporting the market with foreign exchange to meet the market demand. With the current projected improvement in the foreign exchange reserves, we want to announce that the Bank is ready to Support the market with foreign exchange to meet foreign exchange needs for the importation of essential goods and services. As we speak, we have already started to support the fuel sector and the importation of essential food items. In this context, it is our assessment that current levels of the exchange rates are largely created by speculations. The Bank has now entered the market and we expect the exchange rates to respond to our intervention.

Dier Tong Ngor Governor and Board Chairman, Bank of South Sudan