Imported goods ‘unaffordable’ in Sudanese markets

People in El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, suffer from soaring prices of consumer goods amid a scarcity of bread.

A listener in El Obeid told Radio Dabanga that the owners of bakeries work in accordance with instructions of the popular committee, which is rationing bread distribution per families. 

“Goods have become unaffordable… A person with an average income cannot afford the basic goods,” he said. “The state government imposes fees on any commodity arriving in North Kordofan, causing the soaring prices.”

The price of a pound of sugar, he reported, has risen to SDG7 ($1.14). A kilo of lentils costs SDG17 ($2.80) and a kilo of flour is SDG13 ($2.12). A kilo of frozen chicken now costs SDG35 ($5.70).

Traders in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, also complained about the increased taxes on goods.

“They have been increased by 100 percent,” El Toam Mohamed Awad, the head of the wholesalers’ chamber in the state, said. He claimed that more than 100 truckloads of goods have been held in Nyala market for three consecutive days.

The reason behind the holding of truckloads is the imposition of the tax increase, Awad said, and committing the payment of the taxes on the truckloads in cash.