South Sudanese struggling to put food on table amid high prices 

Several people living in the South Sudan capital are reeling amid high prices of food and fuel.

Julius, who did not want his other name to be disclosed, saidthat a sack of maize flour has risen from 18,000 South Sudanese Pounds to 35,000 SSP while a litre of fuel has risen from 350 to 1,000 SSP. 

Many residents like Julius are finding it now extremely difficult to have daily meals and also spending high amount of money on public transport.

“This issue is really a problem, especially for us boda bodariders we are crying seriously. The price for fuel has been going up since and we don’t know what to do next,” Julius told The Juba Echo on Wednesday in Juba.

The current situation has been exacerbated by the depreciation of the local SSP against the U.S dollar.

The dollar previously exchanged with the SSP in June at 43 but now it’s nearly 65 SSP in the black market.

“As citizens, we are in a serious situation in which if it continues it will result into high rate of theft, there will be rise in robberies because the economic situation is worsening,” Peter another resident said.

Mohamed Ahmed, a retail trader in Juba, said they haveresponded by hiking prices of goods to keep in business.

“The prices will continue to increase on weekly basis because if you go to the wholesalers, they will tell you they have increased prices by 50 percent,” Ahmed said.

The soaring prices of commodities forced President Salva Kiir to hold emergency talks this week with the Governor of the Central Bank Moses Makur Deng.