$1.5 billion shortage in new Sudanese budget

The Sudanese government ratified the budget for the year 2000, which includes a shortage of $1.5 billion and an increase in the expected income to nearly $1.2 billion because of petroleum exports.

Finance Minister Abd El-Wahab Osman said the budget that will be ratified by President Omar El-Bashir witnesses a growth of 6.6% with a retreat in the inflation rate to 9% in comparison to 14% in the current year, adding that petroleum exports form 21% of the income and that Sudan started exporting petroleum through the Red Sea in August.

The value of expected income reaches $298 billion dinars in an increase of 36% over 1999, while the expenses reach $1.34 billion in an increase of 34%.