The South Sudanese Central Bank has insisted that it has no intentions to alter the currency or print new, higher-denomination banknotes.

A recent social media post said to be from the Central Bank of South Sudan featured an image of new banknotes.

The governor of the Bank of South Sudan, Dr. James Alic Garang, made it clear that the country has no immediate plans to introduce new banknotes during a press conference on Friday in Juba.

The difficulty with the new currency is that no such alerts have been issued by the Central Bank. What you see there is fake news, and I want to be clear about that today. We have not sent, discussed, or started any modifications to the currency. Please consider it false information, Alic said.

Following the ongoing decline of the South Sudanese pound against the US dollar, the government announced on October 9, 2020, that it would be altering its currency in an effort to support the country’s economy.

The government made the decision after realising that the majority of people were still storing South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) in their houses as opposed to banks.

Additionally, on September 8, 2023, Johnny Ohisa, the former governor of the Central Bank, suggested altering the South Sudanese currency in order to make it easier for the government to retrieve cash hidden in homes.

In answer to questions from attendees of the National Economic Conference about the necessity of saving as a culture among the majority of South Sudanese citizens, Governor Ohisa offered the suggestion.

Although South Sudan is the region’s top oil producer, its almost complete reliance on the resource has turned it into a burden.

A 2018 peace agreement brought relative stability to the country, but the inflation rate has remained very high. South Sudan’s economic crisis has been driven by the rapidly depreciating value of the South Sudanese Pound (SSP), shortages of hard currency, and significant dependence on imports.