By Bida Elly David<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Central Bank is under immense pressure to contain the rising inflation and the weakening of the South Sudanese Pound against the US Dollar.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n As of Tuesday, No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper established further downfall of South Sudanese pound against the United States Dollar, further exacerbating commodity prices.<\/p>\n A dollar now trades between SSP 1,400 and SSP 1,450 in the parallel market.<\/p>\n In a statement dated February 19, 2024, the Central Bank expressed concerns about the consistent rise in the value of the US Dollar, which has been causing a corresponding increase in commodity prices.<\/p>\n The Bank pledged to address the market instability.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are aware of the recent fluctuations in the exchange rate and its impact on prices; the bank is closely monitoring the recent developments in the foreign exchange market and remains committed to ensuring price stability and efficiency in the market,\u201d BoSS promised in its statement.<\/p>\n Dr. James Alic Garang, the governor of the central bank, stated that the bank is undertaking measures to remedy the staggering pounds.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bank has considered intervening in the forex exchange market with a monetary policy rate that strengthens SSP through a weekly auction of foreign currency at a revised bank\u2019s rate,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n The governor further said the bank has resolved the deployment of countermeasures to stabilize the exchange rate through the supply of additional resources to relieve pressure on the external sector and balance of payment (BoP).<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to engage other stakeholders and development partners to support efforts aimed at fostering resilient and competitive foreign markets for sustainable economic development,\u201d he underpinned.<\/p>\n Alic said the bank is also set out to intensify term deposit monetary operations aimed at smoothing market liquidity, monetary supply, and demand.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bank assures the public that it is unequivocally committed to its mandate of ensuring price stability and a sound financial system in the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Changkouth Bichiok, chairperson of the specialized committee for finance and economic planning at the National Transitional Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA), attributed the market instability to poor coordination and dependence on imports. \u201cSouth Sudan mostly depends on imports, which is why we need dollars more than anything, but if we have production locally, we don’t need dollars,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n According to him, the parliament, right after the resumption, will meet the finance and trade institutions for findings on the devastating economy.<\/p>\n He stated that one body cannot bring total economic stability, but rather different actors within the government. He stated that his committee has already started engaging with the Ministry of Trade over commodity price control.<\/p>\n Recently, an economic analyst blasted the central bank and chambers of commerce for having failed to control market inflation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Bida Elly David Central Bank is under immense pressure to contain the rising inflation and the weakening of the South Sudanese Pound against the US Dollar. As of Tuesday, No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper established further downfall of South Sudanese pound against the United States Dollar, further exacerbating[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":21871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/James-Alic-Garang-governor-of-Central-Bank-Courtesy-photo.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21870"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21873,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21870\/revisions\/21873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe lawmaker stated in an earlier interview that positive solutions to the economy will be guaranteed if the concerned institutions engage in proper coordination and work together.
\nOn the issue of the dollar’s rise, Mr. Changkouth stated that it is a global phenomenon that the USD takes the lead in countries with weak economies that do not support agriculture.
\nHe stated that the Ministry of Trade and Industry has a bigger role to play in price control for imported and exported goods.
\nChangkouth highlighted a serious weakness in the agricultural sector, saying there is no progress on local food production.
\nWith the weakness, he noted that traders take advantage of hiking prices with claims of buying goods in dollars from outside.
\n\u201cWhat we need to do is embrace our agriculture; we need to produce, and we need to make our own food, because even the tomatoes and the water, we are importing them from somewhere,\u201d the finance committee chair noted.
\nThe MP underscored that with the promotion of domestic production, the value of the foreign currency will depreciate, saying people will not need them anymore.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe body responsible for stabilizing the economy this time is not only one body, but there are a number of actors that are supposed to keep up, especially the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Trade,\u201d he outlined.<\/p>\n