South Sudan's Salva Kiir sacks bank chief Elijah Malok

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South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has sacked the central bank governor - about a month after the new country launched its currency, the pound.

The dismissal of the governor, Elijah Malok, comes as the new currency has been sliding against the US dollar.

Mr Kiir said Mr Malok would be replaced by his deputy, Kornelio Koryom Mayiik.

South Sudan, which seceded from the north on 9 July, is battling to create a new state, analysts say.

Shortly after its independence, it accused the north of triggering an economic war by launching a new currency of its own.

The north also blocked an oil shipment from South Sudan, accusing it of failing to pay custom fees.

'Rise in inflation'

Mr Kiir dismissed Mr Malok by presidential decree and gave no reason for his decision.

Mr Mayiik, the new governor, had been in charge of a committee that oversaw the launch of the South's currency about a week after its independence.

The BBC's James Copnall in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, says the South is going through the complicated process of creating a modern state, while also dealing with major security and development challenges.

Mr Kiir was to have named a cabinet last week, but has so far failed to do so, our correspondent says.

Mr Kiir has insisted his choices will be based on quality, but he will find it difficult to escape ethnic considerations, he adds.

Economists are also worried about the lack of co-operation between Sudan and South Sudan.

Both states are locked in a race to replace their old currencies, raising fears of a sharp rise in inflation, our correspondent says.

The new currencies of both the north and the South are falling against the US dollar, he adds.

South Sudan has been selling US dollars to try to stop the slide in its currency, Reuters news agency reports.

The great divide across Sudan is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. South Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.

Sudan's arid north is mainly home to Arabic-speaking Muslims. But in South Sudan there is no dominant culture. The Dinkas and the Nuers are the largest of more than 200 ethnic groups, each with its own languages and traditional beliefs, alongside Christianity and Islam.

The health inequalities in Sudan are illustrated by infant mortality rates. In South Sudan, one in 10 children die before their first birthday. Whereas in the more developed northern states, such as Gezira and White Nile, half of those children would be expected to survive.

The gulf in water resources between north and south is stark. In Khartoum, River Nile, and Gezira states, two-thirds of people have access to piped drinking water and pit latrines. In the south, boreholes and unprotected wells are the main drinking sources. More than 80% of southerners have no toilet facilities whatsoever.

Throughout Sudan, access to primary school education is strongly linked to household earnings. In the poorest parts of the south, less than 1% of children finish primary school. Whereas in the wealthier north, up to 50% of children complete primary level education.

Conflict and poverty are the main causes of food insecurity in Sudan. The residents of war-affected Darfur and South Sudan are still greatly dependent on food aid. Far more than in northern states, which tend to be wealthier, more urbanised and less reliant on agriculture.

Sudan exports billions of dollars of oil per year. Southern states produce more than 80% of it, but receive only 50% of the revenue. The pipelines run north but the two sides have still not agreed how to share the oil wealth in the future.