The lobby says Juba received a $1 billion credit line to support imports of essential goods but the facility was misused.
US advocacy group The Sentry is alleging $1 billion was embezzled in deals involving senior government officials, foreign companies and international banks in South Sudan.
“The credit line issued in US dollars in the form of letters of credit was intended to help local traders pay for these imports, considering the extreme shortage of hard currency and the weakness of the new local pound,” said The Sentry. The Sentry added, “the government was supposed to allocate the LCs to traders, who could exchange South Sudanese pounds at the then-official exchange rate of 3.16 SSP per dollar. Traders would then use the LCs essentially a guarantee from the bank to pay the exporter upon confirmation of delivery of the goods”.
Stanbic Bank acknowledged that its South Sudan unit made available a $200 million letter of credit programme to South Sudan between 2012 and 2015 which was in line with the objectives of the government of South Sudan to support local businesses’ participation in the importation of certain essential goods.
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