Onion price soars in Darfur, Sudan Finance Ministry acknowledges consumer woes

The price of onions has risen sharply in the states of Darfur amid a shortage of the vegetable that is consumed extensively as a staple in the region. The Ministry of Finance in Khartoum has acknowledged that prices for consumer goods soared by 100 per cent during the current quarter.

Traders in Darfur told Radio Dabanga that there is a severe shortage in spite of lorry-loads of onions arriving from Omdurman and other parts of Sudan. They explain that the shortage is seasonal – it is the end of the current season for onions and the beginning of the next planting season in Darfur. There is not enough local production to meet the high daily consumption.

The price of a ‘malwa’ of onions to consumers in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, has risen to SDG 150 ($3.15*) and in the North Darful capital of Nyala, the price has risen to SDG 100 ($2.10). On the wholesale market, a 100 kg sack of onions in El Tina in North Darfur has risen to SDG 3,000 ($64), SDG 2,200 ($46) in El Fasher.

Ministry of Finance acknowledges increases

The Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs at the national Ministry of Finance in Khartoum, Adil Abdelaziz, has acknowledged the increase in commodity prices by 100 per cent during the current quarter of this year, which has affected the various levels of Sudanese society.

He warned during a workshop of further suffering for the Sudanese people if the government delays the adoption of effective measures against the rise of prices.

The liquidity crisis has been ongoing in the country despite the government’s repeated promises to end it.

‘Catastrophic consequences’

Sudanese economist Dr Feisal Awad described the liquidity crisis as being “made-up for covering-up a real crisis that exists and to mislead people about the fact of inflation”.

He told Radio Dabanga: “The liquidity crisis will have catastrophic consequences, like other crises in other fields and situations, which have created additional crises that are difficult to predict.”

He described the government’s printing of new banknotes as “deliberate sabotage, because the most important condition for printing money is the need to match it with the economic performance of the state, which must measure the volume of goods and services produced compared to the money it prints… The government has continued to print paper currency without coverage or the existence of foreign exchange reserves or exportable domestic production for competition to create the desired balance between the currency printed and purchasing power.”

Market Makers Committee

Prof Hasan Bashir, Professor of Economics at the University of El Nilein described the mechanism of the Market Makers Committee (MMC) as “inactive in reducing the exchange rate”.

The MMC was established by the Sudanese government in October to determine foreign exchange rates has failed to curb the increasing US Dollar (USD) rates against the Sudanese Pound (SDG) in the parallel forex market.

Prof Bashir pointed to the steady to the steady increase in the Sudanese Pound – Dollar exchange rate. The official daily rate as determined by the MMC and quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan is currently SDG 47.50 for a Dollar, however the greenback was trading on the streets of Khartoum at SDG 51.

He reiterated what he said in an earlier interview with Radio Dabanga he considers the austerity measures announced last week by Sudan’s Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Motaz Mousa as the first of its kind since the secession of South Sudan, but said that the amounts provided will not have a significant effect. He says that the largest spending is on security, defence, and administrative inertia at state, locality, and legislative council levels.

* All currency conversions based on the daily US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS)