On March 7th Mr Bashir appointed Mohammed Khair al-Zubair governor of the Bank of Sudan (the central bank), replacing Sabir Mohammed al-Hassan. The departure of Mr Hassan ends a period of speculation about his position in the bank, but the appointment of Mr Zubair is unlikely to bring any great change in central bank policy or management. Mr Zubair was finance minister in Sudan for a period during the 1990s. Mr Hassan had reached the end of his term and told reporters that he had asked for it not to be renewed, on grounds of health and family.