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South Sudan pound claims strength against dollar but prices remain high.

Juba, South Sudan

August 8, 2022 — The South Sudanese pound is rapidly gaining strength against the US dollar in the recent days but prices remain skyrocketing in the market.

Over the weekend, a dollar sells at 440 pounds in the parallel market, down from 700 pounds per a dollar last week.

The unmatched battle between the South Sudanese pound against the US Dollar(Photo credit: Nyamilepedia)
The unmatched battle between the South Sudanese pound against the US Dollar(Photo credit: Nyamilepedia)

According to economic analyst, this volatility in money market must have been triggered by speculations in the market that there is SSP scarcity given the recent reshuffle by President Salva Kiir in his cabinet; however, the Chairperson of the chamber of commerce, Robert Francis Pitia, said the commodity prices will continue skyrocketing despite the appreciation of pound against hard currency.

“The factors that are increasing the prices in the market are many. Dollar is one of the factors,” Chairperson of Chamber of Commerce Francis said.

According to Francis, commodity prices will only reduce upon harmonization and reforming of tax collection in the country.

“I think we find ourselves in the same scenario whereby the dollar comes down and the prices are not coming down. Because there are some taxes which have been duplicated and being levied on the traders,” he elaborated.

The top businessman argues that parallel tax systems at the national and state levels continue to undermine efforts to fight for economic recovery.

“We need also them to coordinate with the national so that this issue should be addressed once and for all,” Francis told reporters in South Sudanese, capital Juba on Sunday.

The Central Bank is encountering inflation through auctioning of hard currency in its reserve to Forex bureaus and commercial banks.

In July alone, South Sudan Central Bank auctioned nearly 50 million US dollars to commercial banks, as a remedy to discourage the skyrocketing exchange rates.

Meanwhile, the head of the National Chamber of Commerce appealed to the government to intervene by supporting cooperatives that provide products at acceptable prices.

“We need also the government to also create a cooperative center, so that at the residential areas there must be centers in bringing food at the lower prices and affordable to our all citizens so that to compete with the market.”

A bread that used to be sold at 50 SSP few weeks is now being sold at 200 SSP, making it difficult for a common citizen to secure his/her daily meal.

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