Economist Ahmed Morgan speaks to Eye Radio. |12th January 2022 |Credit: Lou Nelson.

An economist has said the economic crisis in the country should not be entirely blamed on the war in Eastern Europe and other global challenges.

Ahmed Morgan, who is a lecturer at the University of Juba claims the government is using the Ukraine war as a scapegoat to escape blame for their bad economic policies.

Mr. Morgan states that the current economic depression started in 2013 and that the global crisis has only added fuel to a burning flame.

“We have been going through these economic difficulties because of bad policies or lack or economic policies, the crisis in Ukraine has just added fuel to the fire that we already have here in South Sudan,

“We have been undergoing this one because of bad policies or a lack of proper economic policies which can be put in place,” he said.

Speaking during the Eye Radio’s Sundown program Friday, Morgan stated that unless the government fight back the global crisis by increasing local food production, the country could be hit the hardest.

“That is why And like I said, a country like South Sudan will be hit very hard more than any other country given that we are just a starting country,” he warned.

The economist made the remarks after the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Peter Mayen warned, the situation could get worst after Uganda adopted stringent measures to restrict exports of food commodities.

“As the minister put it that we have strategies, I don’t know which strategies, but from an economic point of view, since this crisis is a global crisis, we need a national effort to begin production,” he said.

“We have been actually importing everything from outside. And we have this strategy of hoping that those countries trading with us should not block imports,” he added.

Economist Morgan, who has been a bold critic of the government’s policy to lower exchange rate by auctioning dollars, said the only way out of the bad economic situation is for the government to maximize local food production.

On Thursday, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs disclosed to the media that neighboring Uganda has closed a major export market.

“The situation we have apparently, to say basically, and openly is that of course Uganda has closed one of the major markets which we used to get the supply from and not only us, but also the Republic of Congo and other countries,” Minister Mayen told the press.

The Minister went on to say South Sudan is no longer getting the food supply it used to import from the region, and that the situation could deteriorate for the over 8 million people who are already food insecure in the country.

Reports have shown that in South Sudan, only 1.5 to 2 million people are independent and do not need humanitarian assistance.

Peter Mayen Majongdit also said the government and UN partners are coordinating a response strategy, without going into details.

He also appealed to ‘the friends’ of South Sudan to continue releasing food commodities to the import dependent South Sudan.

Media and humanitarian reports around the world have pinned the current global economic crisis to multiple factors such as the war in Ukraine and the pandemic.