Economic Situation In The South Worsens The economic situation in Southern Sudan is worsening day after day in what the Government has described as “a trial moment”. Commodity prices are soaring daily in attribution to the current insecurity situation triggered in Abyei. 27 May 2011 Economic Situation In The South Worsens Juba’s main bus station [©Gurtong]
By Waakhe Simon Wudu JUBA, 27th May, 2011 [Gurtong]-The economic situation in Southern Sudan is worsening day after day in what the Government has described as “a trial moment”. Commodity prices are soaring daily in attribution to the current insecurity situation triggered in Abyei. The Abyei conflict has blocked the roads from the North penetrating to the South that traders use for importing goods from Khartoum. Goods both manufactured and raw are being imported from North Sudan and East Africa for the consumption population in Southern Sudan. The Acting Undersecretary and the Director General for Grades and Standards Dr. Mary G. Muoratat of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry yesterday explained to Gurtong in an official interview while in her office that, there was fuel crisis in East Africa, an alternative that South Sudan had in mind to curd the crisis. East Africa imports fuel from Libya she said. However, with the revolution in the oil rich country, fuel importation to the region had been adversely affected. Mary said that apparently prices of basic commodities as; water, eggs, beans, onions, flour and other foodstuffs in the region had skyrocketed. Fuel prices have triply gone high in a weekly rate. The cost of transportation fees in the Central Equatoria State have extremely increased. John Wani is the Organizing Secretary of the Central Equatoria State Drivers Union. While in his office at the Juba main bus park, he explained to Gurtong that, prior to the conflict in Abyei, fares from Juba to any of the CES Counties of Kajokeji, Yei, Lainya, and Kaya were 70, 40, 30, and 60 Sudanese Pounds respectively. However, current fares are at 100, 50, 40, and 70 SP respectively. The South Sudan Centre for Census, Statistics and Evaluation revealed in a recent survey indicating that a common South Sudanese spent two dollars in a day to sustain their livelihood. Wani pointed out that, early this month a 20 litre of fuel coasted 46 Sudanese Pounds. However, it is now at 120SDG. This rise in fuel prices has affected other commodities and the coast of living in the young economy. Mr. Moses Sibistiano is the Clerk for Lueths Utmost Transport Company Limited in Juba. He said that, bus fares from Juba to Western Equatoria State’s Counties of Mundri, Meridi and Yambio have increased by 30%. The current charges are at 50, 90 and 160 SDG respectively. Dr. Mary described the economic situation as a trial moment for the people of South Sudan. “We are going through a trial moment,” she said. The South Sudanese economy is a free market economy in which prices are determined by the forces of demand and supply. However, the Undersecretary said that the Ministry is currently negotiating with suppliers in the region as a way of addressing the crisis. Posted in: Home, Business -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
