The Socio-economic Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Sudan

The aim of this study is to explore the various impact of the GFC on Sudan; specifically its economic, social, and political ones. The economic impact will explore the impact of GFC on certain economic indicators which include: balance of payments with special emphasis on the crisis effect on both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and remittances of Sudanese expatriates; inflation rates; GDP growth rates; exchange rate; unemployment. The social impact will focus mainly on examining the impact of the crisis on poverty as a major social indicator, while the political impact will investigate if the worsening of economic and social conditions resulted from the crisis has led to popular uprising following the steps of Sudan neighboring countries of Egypt and Libya. Moreover, the proposed policies that aimed at mitigating the negative impact which may take place as a result of the crisis will be assessed critically. This study indicates that the GFC has adverse effect on both the economic and social indicators, which have been examined. Accordingly, it lowered exports, caused FDI and remittances to drop, thus widening the balance of payments deficit. Furthermore, inflation and unemployment rates both rose to 12.1% and 18.7% in the years followed the crisis, while GDP growth rates declined to 5.9% and 5.2% in the years 2009-2010 that followed the crisis. Moreover, the Sudanese pound lost 21.5% of its value immediately after the crisis, while poverty rates loom high at 46.5%.Regarding the political impact of GFC, the study finds that the limited means of mass mobilization, and looming uncertainty surrounding Sudan's security and political future should popular protests topple the regime, has disrupted the upsurge of mass protests amongst the grieving citizens, and thus preventing the country to follow the footsteps of its neighboring countries of Egypt and Libya, which were the first Arab countries in the region to witness what has been called the "Arab Spring".