Prices soar, bakeries shut in Sudan bread, fuel crisis

The knock-on effect of the steady rise in the price of the US Dollar on Sudan’s currency market continues to impact on prices of consumer goods on markets in Khartoum and the other states. Bread, fuel, and cooking gas prices have soared due to short supply. The greenback currently costs SDG 28.2 on the parallel currency market.

Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan has seen a severe bread crisis and rise of prices of goods which led to the closure of the bakeries. Workers and employees from Kadugli told Radio Dabanga the bread crisis has lasted for more than 10 days.

A woman told Radio Dabanga that there is hardly any bread to be obtained, and prices for the little that can be found have doubled.

A market employee pointed to a fuel crisis in Kadugli and said that the security services have tightened control on the movement of goods in the districts and peripheral areas of the city through limiting the quantity of consumer goods allowed to traders.

El Gedaref

El Gedaref residents have complained of rise of prices and ongoing bread crisis for weeks without the authorities being able to find a solution.

They told Radio Dabanga that most of the bakeries have closed because of the lack of flour and pointed to long queues for hours in front of the few bakeries that are still operating.

They expressed discontent at the lack of intervention by the authorities to control the market and address the bread crisis which has lasted for more than a month.

Nyala

Commodity prices have risen sharply in Nyala in South Darfur compounding the suffering of the population.

Traders attributed the increases to the increase in the fees of some goods and the fuel crisis which hampers the flow of goods to the markets in the South Darfur and other states in the region.

Port Sudan

Port Sudan has been experiencing a severe bread crisis since Tuesday.

On Tuesday and Wednesday a number of bakeries closed because of the depletion of their flour quota in spite of long queues. Many we left empty handed.

Bakery owners attributed the crisis to reducing their daily quota of flour by 50 per cent in addition to the cooking gas crisis experienced by the state.

Press blackout

Last week, petrol stations in Khartoum witnessed long queues for the third day in a row. On Tuesday and Wednesday, hundreds of people waited in vain for transport at bus stations in Omdurman, Khartoum North, and Khartoum.

A government source has attributed the scarcity of fuel to delays in shipments through Port Sudan.

NISS officers have warned the Sudanese media by telephone not to report about the scarcity of bread and fuel in the country.