Purchasing power weakens again in Sudan’s Kordofan

Merchants in various towns in Kordofan are complaining about a further dwindling of purchasing power on the markets, as a result of the rise of the US Dollar against the Sudanese Pound (SDG).

The sales rapidly diminished in the past three weeks, because of the continuous increase in the prices of consumer goods, they told Radio Dabanga.

“As many basic commodities are imported, the prices are dependent on the Dollar rate,” a merchant in El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan, said. “While most of the salaries remain the same.”

Following the decision of Washington on 12 July to postpone the lifting of economic sanctions on Sudan on 12 July, street prices for the Dollar rose to an unprecedented SDG 20. On Friday, the US Dollar sold for SDG 21.8 on the Khartoum black market.

Traders in Delling in South Kordofan told Radio Dabanga that the prices of imported basic commodities increased by 20 per cent since mid-July.

A merchant in Babanusa in West Kordofan reported that the price of a 100 kg sack of wheat flour has risen from SDG 310 ($46) to SDG 350 ($52).

The prices of domestically produced goods, however, rose as well, because of the high costs of transportation, along with the levies imposed on them by local authorities, he explained. “The price of a 50 kg sack of sugar has risen from SDG 560 ($83) to SDG 650.”

Last week, complaints about sky-rocketing prices of basic consumer goods reached Radio Dabanga from Kassala.