W. Bahr el Ghazal officials blame high prices on dollar scarcity

April 07, 2015 (WAU) – Officials from the Western Bahr el Ghazal state chamber of commerce have attributed the skyrocketing prices of commodities in markets to dollar scarcity.

In an interview with Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, the state secretary general for chamber of commerce, Natale Paul said a dollar in the market was trading at 7.2 South Sudanese Pounds.

“What is happening in markets prices is not only in Wau [but] all over the country. This is because the price of dollar is very high and our traders find it very hard to buy dollar as they use to export their goods from foreign countries,” said Paul.

In recent weeks, however, many traders complained of the high taxes imposed on them by government in form of license fees.

But Paul insists government works to protect, not exploit the country’s citizens.

“The government price on tax collection is not high nor the license charges because government requires good prices of good for it citizens,” he said.

“We, as [the] chamber of commerce, are monitoring both sides, the traders and government daily for good prices and taxes,” added the official.

Concerned about the price abnormalities, Paul said a committee of the business community has been tasked by government to supply the nation with goods from neighbouring countries during the crisis.

“Cross-border trade between Sudan and South Sudan and Western Bahr al Ghazal state has been halted, resulting in rise the rise of commodity prices in the state,” a businessman told Sudan Tribune.

Despite all these hiccups, however, several traders in Western Bahr el Ghazal also complained about the poor conditions of road networks linking state to the capital, Juba, often forcing the business communities to double prices of their commodities.

(ST)