The National Constitutional Amendment Committee has presented two amended banking laws to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to be passed to the Council of Ministers for approval before it’s tabled before the parliament.
The laws are: the Bank of South Sudan Amendment Act 2023 and the Banking Law Amendment Act 2023. Gichira Kibara, NCAC chairperson presented the two documents to Minister Ruben Madol in Juba on Monday.
Kibara said the laws are amended to the global best practice to manage financial sector and lay foundation of the economic development of the country.
“They are very important in terms of making sure that monitory policy and financial transactions are done according to the law in the Republic of South Sudan,” Kibara said.
“They are part of the reforms that are being done to strengthen the economic and financial sector in the country to ensure the foundation is laid for the development of the country,”
The Bank of South Sudan amendment Act is the law meant to only manage the Bank of South Sudan (BOSS) whereas the Banking law Amendment Act regulates how other banks within the country operates.
Kibara said the law introduces a committee that will regulate the usage of money across the country in order to strengthen the Pound against foreign currency.
“The main thing always with exchange rate is to ensure there is prudent management of monitory policy and that is what we have strengthened. We have put in law the monitory committee which will be regulating the way money is handled,” Kibara stated.
Monitoring the foreign reserves is among the role of the committee that has been introduced in the law.
There must be four-month import cover in the Bank of South Sudan for importations of goods from other countries, according to the technical body.
“Foreign reserves must be properly regulated so that the dollar does not become a problem every time. There must be enough reserves in the Bank of South Sudan to ensure those who want to import goods get the foreign currency to do that,” Kibara explained.
The NCAC is a body mandated by the 2018 revitalized peace agreement to draft, review and complete amendments of various legislations to bring them in conformity with the peace deal and international practice.
The committee said they are left with five laws to complete the reviewing of the laws. Elections laws are among the five laws that are yet to be completed.
“Our laws are being amended to international and regional practices and we will make sure that the application of these laws is simple and possible and people will have access to their rights,” Said Dr. Gabriel Isaac Awou, undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. “Today we have received almost the eighteenth laws.”
