Sudanese Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh on Thursday announced the formation of the new government of national unity that includes the opposition.

The new government was part of the outcome of the National Dialogue launched in 2014 by President Omar al-Bashir and concluded in October last year.

President Bashir, who took power in a coup in 1989, has been battling rebels and grappling with economic hardships compounded by US sanctions and the secession of South Sudan in 2011, which took away about three-quarter of oil production.

“According to Articles 58 and 70 of the Sudanese transitional constitution of 2005 and after consultations with the head of the council of ministers, the Sudanese presidency has issued a presidential decree of the formation of the consensus government,” Mr Saleh said, addressing a press conference in Khartoum.

Mr Saleh said the new government will have 31 ministers and 40 deputies and will be in place until the year 2020.

The new government is required to lead in the review the constitution, national reconciliation as well as economic reforms.

"This government comes to implement the recommendations of the national dialogue, the country's largest political event after independence in 1956. The government's priorities are to increase production and people's livelihoods and achieve peace," Mr Saleh said.

The constitution was amended in December to include the position of the prime minister, a post that President Bashir had scrapped after taking power. Mr Saleh, who is also the vice president, was appointed to the position on March 1.  

The ministerial and other government positions will be shared among the political parties and interest groups that participated in the dialogue.

The premier also called on opposition parties which boycotted the National Dialogue to join the new administration, saying there was still room for them.

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-Additional reporting by Agencies.