Market Highlights
Inflation: The minimum cost of food basket increased by 23 percent in the March 2016 compared to the previous month, occasioned by rapidly rising prices, thus limiting many households capacity to afford food.
Exchange Rate: The South Sudanese Pound (SSP) lost further ground to the US Dollar in the black market over the last month, exhibiting extreme short-term volatility and reaching an all-time low of 45 SSP/1US$ in the third week of March 2016, before settling to between 30-35 SSP/US$ band. The official rate also oscillated between 28-34 SSP/US$ over the month. Due to US dollar shortages, vibrant black marketeering as well as massive speculative tendencies persisted among players.
Cost of Fuel: Irregular fuel supply, shortage and hoarding of fuel pushed diesel/petrol prices in the black market to record levels of up to SSP 120/litre, inflating transportation costs and disrupting trade and commodity flows while also exerting additional pressure on food prices. Even though the official fuel prices remained at SSP22 per litre, the parallel black marketers are selling at as much as five times the official price.
Cost of Staples: Nominal retail prices of staples, both locally produced and imported commodities have sustained rising trends in most markets on the backdrop of the increasing economic crisis and diminishing food stocks from last year’s harvest.
Outlook: Food prices are projected to hit historical levels this year. Localized insecurity, low import capacity, economic crisis, blockade of trade routes, opportunistic ambushes/ banditry along the roads as well the seasonal rains will most likely lower commodity availability in many markets and further upset market functioning especially in the hinterlands with consequential increase in prices. Exorbitant prices of essential food commodities coupled with further reduction in households’ purchasing power, will greatly compromise food access and dietary diversity for many families in the country during this lean season (April-July 2016).