South Sudanese pound

South Sudanese pound
£
The South Sudanese pound (ISO code and abbreviation: SSP ) is the currency of the Republic of South Sudan. It is subdivided into 100 piasters. It was approved by the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly before secession on 9 July 2011 from Sudan. It was introduced on 18 July 2011, and replaced the Sudanese pound at par. On 1 September 2011, the Sudanese pound ceased to be legal tender in South Sudan.

On October 8, 2020, due to rapid depreciation of the South Sudanese pound's exchange rate with the United States dollar, South Sudan announced that it would soon change its currency.

The banknotes feature the image of John Garang de Mabior, the late leader of South Sudan's independence movement.

Six different denominations (SSP 1, SSP 5, SSP 10, SSP 25, SSP 50, SSP 100 and SSP 500) in the form of banknotes have been confirmed, and five denominations (SSP 0.01, SSP 0.05, SSP 0.10, SSP 0.25 and SSP 0.50) will be issued in the form of coins.

Three new banknotes for SSP 0.05, SSP 0.10, and SSP 0.25 were issued 19 October 2011.

The first circulation coins of the South Sudanese pound in denominations of SSP 0.10, SSP 0.20, and SSP 0.50 were issued 9 July 2015, on occasion of the fourth anniversary of independence from Sudan.

In 2016, the Bank of South Sudan issued a SSP 20 banknote to replace the SSP 25 note. In 2018, the Bank of South Sudan introduced a SSP 500 banknote to ease daily cash transactions following years of inflation.

As part of a currency redesign to reduce confusion, a SSP 1 coin was released to replace the SSP 1 banknote, and a coin for SSP 2 has also been released. The SSP 10, SSP 20 and SSP 100 notes were all redesigned.

In November 2016, the Governor of the Bank of South Sudan issued a statement dismissing as false reports claiming that the bank was printing new notes in denominations of SSP 200, SSP 500 and SSP 1,000.

In February 2021, the Bank of South Sudan issued a SSP 1,000 banknote as part of an effort to combat rising inflation and economic crisishttps://www.voaafrica.com/a/africa_south-sudan-focus_south-sudan-sudan-address-economic-crises/6195781.html. The maroon banknote features a familiar design of John Garang on the obverse, and an image of two ostriches on the reverse.
Country
  • South Sudan
    South Sudan, officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in Eastern Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Kenya. Its population was estimated at 10,913,164 in 2022. Juba is the capital and largest city.

    South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011, making it the most recent sovereign state or country with widespread recognition as of 2023. It includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd, formed by the White Nile and known locally as the Bahr al Jabal, meaning "Mountain River". Sudan was occupied by Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty and was governed as an Anglo-Egyptian condominium until Sudanese independence in 1956. Following the First Sudanese Civil War, the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region was formed in 1972 and lasted until 1983. A second Sudanese civil war soon broke out in 1983 and ended in 2005 with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Later that year, southern autonomy was restored when an Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan was formed. South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011, following 98.83% support for independence in a January 2011 referendum. It has suffered ethnic violence and endured a civil war characterized by rampant human rights abuses, including various ethnic massacres and killings of journalists by various parties to the conflict from December 2013 until February 2020, when competing combat leaders Salva Kiir Mayardit and Riek Machar struck a unity deal and formed a coalition government, paving the way for refugees to return home.