The Central Bank of Sudan will withdraw older 500-pound banknotes from circulation across the country, giving holders three months from Oct. 1 to deposit the notes with commercial banks.
The withdrawal covers 500-pound notes issued in 2023 and earlier, the central bank said in a statement Wednesday. The notes will remain legal tender until the end of business on Dec. 31, 2026, after which they will lose their legal-tender status.
The measure is the latest phase of a currency-replacement program launched in December 2024 covering 1,000-pound and 500-pound denominations.
Under the latest phase, holders can deposit the affected notes at branches of commercial banks operating in the Kordofan and Darfur regions at their face value between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, according to the central bank.
The bank said the latest operation targets Kordofan and Darfur because the two regions were not covered by the first two phases of the currency-replacement program, which were constrained by security conditions.
The central bank completed the second phase in mid-May in Khartoum, Al Jazirah and White Nile states. The program continued in other states where security conditions had prevented the exchange, according to the bank.
From Jan. 1, 2027, the affected banknotes will no longer be legal tender anywhere in Sudan and will not be valid for settling financial obligations or commercial transactions, the bank said.
The central bank cited Article 25(3) of the Central Bank of Sudan Act of 2002 as the legal basis for the withdrawal.
The currency-replacement program comes as Sudan’s financial system operates under severe pressure from the war that began in April 2023. The conflict has disrupted economic activity and production and damaged infrastructure, while weakening purchasing power and complicating the functioning of the banking system.
The central bank urged holders of the affected notes, particularly in Kordofan and Darfur, to deposit them before the Dec. 31 deadline.
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