Sudan, hit by an economic crisis since losing crucial oil revenues, will effectively devalue the pound by allowing foreign exchange bureaux to trade dollars at a level away from the official rate.

Sudan's economy has been battered since the country lost three-quarters of its oil production to South Sudan when the latter became independent in July.

Even though the pipelines are in Sudan, the two have been unable to agree on how much the South should pay to transport its oil. South Sudan shut down its output of 350,000 barrels a day in January after Sudan started seizing oil for what the latter calls unpaid fees.

The loss of oil revenues, the main source of state income and dollar inflows, has hit the Sudanese pound hard. One dollar bought 5.5 pounds on the black market yesterday, way above the official rate of 2.7.

'They hope to attract more money from Sudanese expatriates,' said a banking source.