Swiss support Sudan in setting up central bank

The Swiss are helping decision-makers from South Sudan – which has just voted to split from the north – to build up a central bank, the foreign ministry says.

Representatives of the soon to be sovereign country and Swiss specialists have met in Zurich for a three-day workshop, a statement said on Friday.

Among those attending were 14 delegates from the world of finance and banking in South Sudan, including the minster for financial and economic planning, and experts from the Swiss National Bank.

Representatives of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were also present, as were the former governors of central banks of countries including Serbia which reported on their experiences.

“The event fits in with Switzerland’s other efforts in fostering a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Sudan,” the statement said.

Since October 2010, the country has been supporting negotiations on how to shape the period following January’s referendum on independence.

A total of 98.83 per cent of voters from Sudan’s oil-producing south chose to secede from the north in last month’s vote.