Jonglei: Prices sour amidst foreign currency scarcity
December 28, 2014 (BOR) – Prices of items have risen in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, with traders attributing it to scarcity of foreign currencies.
“To me, the market is very good. To me as a trader, market is 100 percent good but to the customers, they might have a different feeling because the prices are very high,” Adam told Sudan Tribune.
“The increase of prices was a result of dollar prices in the black market in Juba. $100 is between 580 to 620 [South Sudanese] pounds”, he added.
Most people, traders say, spent their money on clothes and shoes.
Stephen Ajok, a youth from a Mingkaman displaced camp in Lakes state, said high prices prevented him from buying preferred clothes.
“Prices are too here in Bor. I don’t know. Is it because of the Christmas or the war that devastated the market?” asked Ajok.
Rebecca Anger Machar said she attempted to buy cloth for her child, but prices were way beyond her proposed shopping budget.
“I came to look for a cloth for my child, but the prices were too high for me to buy one”, a visibly shocked Anger told Sudan Tribune.
She is one of the civil servants in Jonglei who earn 362 SSP [about $75] monthly, which she admits is insufficient to maintain her family.
Anger urged government to intervene and regulate prices in Bor.
“The government should try to control the prices so that the poor can go shopping with the little cash they have”, she appealed.
Several traders attributed the high prices to the poor state of the 200km Juba-Bor road.
(ST).