By William Madouk
Chairperson of the South Sudan National Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (SSCCIA), Lado Lukak, is taking the lead in addressing the disturbing rise in commodity prices.
On Wednesday, Lukak convened a consultative meeting with leaders of various trading communities to understand why prices remain high when the dollar drops and vice versa.
“My concern is the issue of prices; when the dollar reduces, commodity prices are supposed to drop too,” Lukak told the traders.
He urged the business community to put greediness aside and serve the citizens with pure hearts.
Mr. Lukak hinted that absurd profit in business is regarded as cheating, adding that traders must shun such an illicit act.
He called on merchants to put their heads together and see how a dollar headache could be addressed.
While the Deputy Chair for SSCCIA, Salwa Bakuny, praised the Somali community for being honest in trading, citing that whenever the dollar decreases, Somalis also reduce their prices in petrol situations.
“We have problems with retailers; even when the dollar decreases, they don’t bring down the prices,” Bakuny lamented.
She added that even though traders are facing double taxation, they should also consider citizens plea.
Mrs. Bakuny cited they would work hard to make sure that government harmonize taxes.
Chief of Economic Intelligence Division, Maj-Gen Chuol Rueny, echoed that “any single slight change of the dollar, the price of the commodity change. And the moment it changes, that continues.”
“Even if there is a decrease in dollar exchange, the commodity price remains higher—and this is the question? Why is that? What are the factors involved in the shooting up of prices—is it only the dollar rate or are there other factors?”
Rueny cited the recent drop in exchange rate, but the commodity prices remain out of reach for citizens.
However, the merchants voiced a concern about multiple taxes and unnecessary fines that add burden to their businesses.
They also decried of dollar fluctuation, which according to them plays a major role in price increments.
Traders advised that the government give dollars to genuine traders rather than black market dealers.
Merchants ask on the government to unify tax collection and use digital modes of payment to quash rampant corruption.
For instance, some said the spider web at the shop roof is being fined at SSP 500,000 by Juba City Council.
They mooted a plan to form a joint taskforce to investigate the root causes and come out with recommendations and a study to address the nagging commodity price headache once and for all.
The resolutions of the meeting outcome are expected to be made public soon, with the hope that prices in the market might reduce.