Page 538 - 2016 - Vol. 40
P. 538
name implies", these policies were home grown and were
pursued without external financing or technical assistance
either from the World Bank or the IMF. But, since 1997,
the Macroeconomic stabilization program has been
monitored by the IMF. From then, Sudan has seen stable
progress on basic economic indicators. Growth has been
relatively steady, despite the civil war. The annual GDP
growth rate averaged in excess of 5 per cent during the
period (1995-2002), reflecting the package's success and
the important role of oil, of which the country became a net
exporter in 1999.The joint World Bank/UNDP - led
assessment team concluded that the package had yielded
macroeconomic stability but at a high price in terms of
unequal distribution of the economic gains, unsustainable
levels of public debt and poor access to services
(AImosharaf and Tain, 2014).
In 1999 Sudan began exporting oil and since then has
become increasingly dependent on oil exports to the extent
that the economy has turned into an oil dependent
economy. Since the late 1990s the implementation of
macro-economic reforms along with the positive
contribution of oil to the Sudan economy has caused a rapid
increase in real economic growth. Consequently, Sudan has
- 50 -