Vegetables on sale at Konyo-Konyo market - credit | Moyo Jacob/Eye Radio | April 19, 2022

Traders in Juba have blamed the rising cost of commodity prices on multiple heavy taxations from different government agencies and the depreciating South Sudanese currency.

The businessmen and women expressed the concerns during an assessment by Eye Radio journalist at Konyo–Konyo, the biggest market in the country, on Wednesday.

They decry what they term as taxation headache from the Juba City Council and CID officers, prompting them to hike commodity prices and transfer the burden on customers.

John (not his real name), a trader at the market, said the depreciation of pounds is one of the major factors affecting their businesses, as they receive few customers on daily basis due to the daily adjustment of prices with the exchange rate.

“In general, we currently have a tense market at work. The daily rise of the dollar is a problem,” said John (not his real name), a trader at the market.

“Today, you say a specific price for a customer, for example, something for 1,000 pounds, and tomorrow another price will reach 1,200 because of the increase in the dollar.”

Mr. John added that multiple charges by government agencies such service fees, taxes, rents, and waste employees add more burden on the market.

South Sudan is grappling with dire inflation after the conflict in neighboring Sudan led to serious damage on facilities transporting the crude oil to a port in the Red Sea, depriving the country of its crucial revenue generator.

This has left the government struggling to meet its expenditures and civil servants and members of the organized forces have not been paid for nearly 10 months.

“I’m bitter about it. I’m not happy, the way people are handling us in the market there is so many CID with no proper assignment,” said Margaret (not her real name).

“We don’t know their names but at the end of the day, even if you offloading the goods, you know they are taking a lot of money from us, and the USD is pressing us on the wall, we are not happy.”

On his part, Akol (not his real name), appealed to the government to encourage and provide conducive environment for local production to help bring down prices in the markets.

He said the country cannot continue relying on neighboring countries for the import of basic needs such as food, citing the vast fertile land in the country.

“Now imports come from abroad and this is linked to the dollar. Prices are linked to that. If the dollar rises, the experiments go along with that, and if it falls, the prices fall, and this is the reason for the high prices.”

The South Sudan pound has depreciated by 70 percent against the US dollar between January and July 2024 – pushing prices to record high and leaving more than 7 million people without enough food, thousands of whom risk starvation, the UN humanitarian agency said.

As of September 5, 2024, one US dollar trades at an average of 2,993 South Sudan pounds from the Bank of South Sudan, and at more than 5,150SSP at the parallel market.