Bankers to Sudanhorizon: Lifting Cheque Clearing Limits Requires Increased Liquidity for Financing

Sudanhorizon – Hala Hamza

Bankers have told Sudanhorizon that the Central Bank of Sudan’s directives requiring electronic cheque clearing to operate throughout the week without setting specific clearing limits, along with its warning that administrative penalties will be imposed if banks lack sufficient balances to cover withdrawals, indicate a relative easing of conditions. They described the announced penalties as longstanding measures that are not new to the banking system.

They stressed that lifting cheque clearing limits requires increasing the liquidity available for financing and managing cash flows more efficiently.

Former bank director and banking expert Dr Saleh Jibril told Sudanhorizon that the Central Bank’s circular effectively restored the situation to what it was before the war, when the banking sector faced high risks and severe cash shortages. He nevertheless pointed to a relative improvement.

Jibril called for activating banking controls and facilitating cash circulation in accordance with regulations that encourage production and support economic recovery. He added: “The issue of a bank’s account becoming overdrawn, insufficient balances to cover clearing withdrawals, and the resulting penalties has long been part of the banking system. It is not new and therefore requires no threats or warnings, as this is already well known to every executive management team.”

He explained that the Central Bank issued the circular to improve liquidity management, ensure compliance with sound banking regulations and prioritise customer service, enabling customers to meet their obligations while making transactions more efficient and supporting the productive economy.

In a circular issued last Sunday, the Central Bank of Sudan instructed banks to operate electronic clearing every day of the week without setting limits on clearing transactions. It also required banks’ liquidity management departments to meet their clearing obligations daily and directed senior executive managements to impose strict administrative and financial penalties if daily balances were insufficient to cover withdrawals through the clearing system.

Former banker and institutional development consultant Noman Youssef described the Central Bank’s directives to Sudanhorizon as an important shift in Sudan’s banking environment, saying they go beyond accelerating cheque collection to reshaping the movement of funds and settlements between banks.

He said the decision would give businesses, companies, institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises greater flexibility in settling transactions. It would also accelerate working capital cycles, reduce reliance on cash and encourage transactions through official banking channels. Furthermore, it would create new opportunities for banks to attract active accounts and high-value transactions.

Youssef noted that this shift would increase the sensitivity of liquidity management, as banks would now be required to meet clearing obligations daily without relying on previous limits. This could expose banks with weak liquidity or imbalances in the distribution of their balances across branches to growing operational and regulatory pressures.

He stressed that lifting cheque clearing limits requires increasing the liquidity available for financing, more efficient cash-flow management, forecasting net settlement positions, strengthening oversight of high-value cheques, and improving the readiness of banking systems and electronic connectivity.

Youssef concluded that the directives represent a genuine test of banks’ ability to manage liquidity and risk, as well as an opportunity to rebuild the payments and settlements system, particularly amid ongoing changes in the banking sector and institutional reform programmes.

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