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I want to visit Sudan for 2 months (mid January to mid March 2019). Sudan in the last 12 months had an inflation of 60% (that's a rough estimate).

General question

What impact will such an inflation rate have on a tourist over a 2 month period?

Specific questions

  1. Will a loaf of bread or a meal at a roadside stand cost more everyday?
  2. Is it wise on my first day in the country to exchange e.g $150 to 7500SDG to last me for a week? Or should I exchange smaller amounts e.g. $20 daily?

(I'm asking about Sudan but I assume the answers will apply to other countries with a high inflation.

Not sure if this is possible but I only want to know the consequences of high inflation and not of e.g. political problems, civil war, mass demonstrations, fleeing refugees, police violence, fuel shortages ... I guess if there's high inflation then there is a reason.)

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  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's not about travel per se. – Giorgio Jan 9 '19 at 14:55
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    It's about travelling to Sudan. Answers can apply to other countries with high inflation, e.g. Venezuela – user53786 Jan 9 '19 at 14:56
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    It is probably a better fit to money.se, as surely a local Sudanese will face similar specific problems you have mentioned. – B.Liu Jan 9 '19 at 15:06
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    I think it's a fine fit here. – Roddy of the Frozen Peas Jan 9 '19 at 15:09
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    60% a year is a lot, but it's less than 5% a month (depending on how you compound it.) You're likely to see a more than 10% swing in prices just by what store or food stall you choose. Also you probably pay a service fee each time you exchange money, and that could really add up. – Kate Gregory Jan 9 '19 at 15:21
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Presuming that's the annual rate, which the most common way for inflation to be expressed, that means that the average price of goods will be average 60% higher in one years time.

Meaning, something that costs $1 on 01 JAN will cost $1.60 31 DEC. When prices actually increase is dependent on the merchants. In this case, merchants would raise their prices by ~$0.01 per week to keep up with inflation. Which translates to average 1.1% per week.

So, over the course of two months, you might see price increases of 10-15%, but maybe not. There's lots of seasonal factors involved as well.

When to change money is entirely based on you comfort with the risk of a possible ~10% price increase. And keep in mind, it's likely many exchanges can be performed using Dollars, Pounds or Euros.

I will say that changing many small amounts is likely to incur fees significantly greater than even a 60% inflation rate.

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