Sudan’s 2027 Budget: Improving Livelihoods and Increasing Production as the Foundations of Recovery and Reconstruction

Dr Mohamed Salah Ali Al-Faki
The effectiveness of a national budget is measured not by the volume of revenue it raises or the amount it spends, but by its ability to improve livelihoods, increase production, restore services, and turn limited resources into tangible results. Sudan’s 2027 budget should therefore make improving living conditions and broadening the productive base complementary priorities, linking economic stability with recovery and reconstruction.
First: Sound Planning and Fiscal Discipline
Budget preparation begins with an assessment of financial and implementation performance in previous years, an analysis of the reasons behind stalled projects and deviations from estimates, and the development of realistic revenue and expenditure forecasts that take account of inflation, the exchange rate and economic risks. It also requires training financial personnel, transferring successful experience and adapting it to Sudan’s circumstances, and linking budget allocations to clearly defined responsibilities, timetables and measurable indicators.
Strengthening revenue requires broadening the economic and tax bases, improving collection, combating tax evasion and revenue leakages, and reviewing unjustified exemptions, without imposing ill-considered burdens on citizens and producers. At the same time, expenditure must be rationalised, procurement and contracts improved, project duplication prevented, and spending linked to actual achievements. The budget deficit must also be financed carefully to limit its inflationary risks.
Second: Production as a Sustainable Path to Better Living Standards
Resources should be directed to provide production inputs, finance, energy, and transport; rehabilitate irrigation schemes and productive infrastructure; restart suspended facilities where economically viable; encourage local manufacturing; and add value to national resources.
The central mechanism is to finance the entire production cycle, from supplying inputs through production, processing, storage and marketing, and then reinvesting the proceeds in a new cycle. This can be strengthened by linking producers with factories and markets through contract farming and advance purchase agreements, while directing finance towards activities that generate actual output and sales.
To improve living standards, subsidised retail markets should be developed in partnership with producers, cooperatives, and the private sector, while reducing intermediary stages and transport and distribution costs. Social protection should be targeted at the most vulnerable households. Wages and salary structures should also be reviewed in light of the cost of living, inflation, and the state’s financial capacity, considering the potential impact of increases on prices and the budget deficit.
Higher production, an increased supply of goods and expanded employment opportunities support incomes and ease pressure on household budgets. Meanwhile, higher purchasing power helps stimulate demand for locally produced goods. In this way, production becomes the foundation for addressing the cost-of-living crisis sustainably, rather than merely a temporary response to rising prices.
Third: Essential Services and Reconstruction
Resources should first go to the most urgent services and the areas most in need, considering the extent of damage, the scale of needs, and the capacity to implement projects.
In education, assess teacher shortages by state and specialisation, then implement a phased plan for recruitment, deployment, and training. In healthcare, priority should be given to essential medicines, primary healthcare and the rehabilitation of facilities. The water sector should focus on maintenance, restoring supplies and extending coverage to underserved areas.
Roads, electricity infrastructure and transport networks that support production and market access should also be rehabilitated. Reconstruction projects must be assessed for economic viability and operating and maintenance costs, avoiding the dispersal of resources across scattered projects that lack the conditions necessary for sustainability.
Fourth: Investment and Measuring Results
Attracting investment requires simplifying procedures, improving infrastructure, strengthening transparency and the rule of law, providing reliable information about investment opportunities, and encouraging productive partnerships through clear contracts that protect public funds and define responsibilities and risks.
To ensure effective implementation, indicators should be adopted to measure growth in production and productivity, unit costs, wastage, the number of facilities returned to operation, new jobs created, the availability and prices of goods, the cost of living, the reduction of teacher shortages, the regularity of health and water services, and the rates of project implementation, revenue collection and expenditure.
For each indicator, a baseline, a realistic target, a data source and a responsible body should be identified. Results should be reviewed regularly to identify deviations and their causes, correct implementation and redirect allocations towards programmes with the greatest impact. The budget should also be implemented in phases, starting with urgent needs and restoring production and services, then expanding in line with available resources and implementation capacity.
From Budget Allocations to Tangible Impact
The success of Sudan’s 2027 budget will depend on its ability to turn public funds into production, employment opportunities, better services and a lower cost of living. This requires financing the entire production cycle, increasing revenue by expanding economic activity, controlling expenditure, and directing investment toward projects with economic and social returns, while monitoring results, holding implementing bodies accountable, and correcting implementation course where necessary.
The objective is not merely to produce a budget that balances on paper, but to build an economy that produces more, supplies goods, creates jobs and restores services, turning national resources into tangible developmental value that citizens can feel in their everyday lives.

Shortlink: https://sudanhorizon.com/?p=19534