Bank of Sudan Raises Clearing Limits: A Breakthrough for Transactions or a New Liquidity Challenge?

Dr Marwa Qabbani
The Central Bank of Sudan’s decision on 8 November 2026 to abolish limits on electronic clearing cheques and make the clearing system operational seven days a week marks an important step in restoring banking activity after the war. This is particularly significant given that the system had been suspended and disrupted for more than three years, with serious consequences for payment flows and the settlement of financial obligations between banks.
The impact of this decision goes beyond simply removing restrictions on cheque values. It also reactivates an essential instrument of the financial and economic cycle. Clearing serves as a vital link between banks, facilitating the movement of funds and the settlement of commercial and institutional transactions more efficiently.
Removing the limits and making the clearing system available seven days a week should reduce collection waiting times, enhance the flexibility of commercial transactions and restore the cheque’s role as an instrument of payment and credit in the market. Confidence in cheques declined during the war because of disruptions to settlement systems and the difficulty of guaranteeing that financial obligations would be honoured.
The decision, however, poses a major challenge for managing banking liquidity. The Central Bank has emphasised the need for banks to maintain sufficient balances to meet their daily clearing obligations, warning that administrative and financial penalties may be imposed on executive management teams that fail to fulfil these commitments.
This is where the economic equation underlying the decision becomes apparent. Removing restrictions on cheque values and expanding the scope of clearing increase the volume of potential obligations between banks. This calls for more precise liquidity management, the development of cash-flow forecasting systems and stronger real-time monitoring of settlement balances, particularly given the disparities in banks’ financial and operational capacities in the aftermath of the war.
This initiative should not stop at restoring electronic clearing in isolation from other national systems. Rather, it should serve as a gateway to broader integration with the national payments and electronic transfers system after the National Switch is restored. Such integration would reduce reliance on cash, support e-commerce and help accelerate the circulation of money throughout the economy.
The success of the decision will also depend on strengthening customers’ and traders’ confidence in cheques. This requires ensuring prompt collection, reducing bounced cheques, providing transparency in settlement procedures, upgrading banks’ technological readiness, and transitioning to electronic cheques.
From an economic perspective, resuming clearing represents a step toward restoring the banking system’s fundamental function: facilitating the movement of money, financing economic activity, and settling financial obligations. The real test, however, will not be abolishing the limits or operating the system throughout the week, but the banks’ ability to meet their obligations and turn the restoration of clearing into renewed banking confidence, increased commercial activity, and sustainable economic recovery.
Dr Marwa Qabbani is an expert in strategic planning and digital transformation.

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