By Jima Francis
As chairperson of the South Sudan National Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (SSCCIA), Lado Lukak personally led a group of traders in their search for a cure for rising commodity prices.
On Wednesday, the boss of the National Chamber of Commerce held a consultative meeting with heads of traders of different alien communities to understand why prices remain high when the dollar drops and vice versa.
“My concern is the issue of prices; when the dollar reduces, commodity prices are supposed to drop too,” Lukak told the head of traders.
He urged the business community to put greed aside and serve the citizens with pure hearts.
Mr. Lukak hinted that absurd profit in the business is regarded as cheating, adding that traders must shun such an illicit act.
He called on merchants to put their heads together and see how the dollar headache could be addressed.
The Deputy Chair for SSCCIA, Salwa Bakuny, praised the Somalin community for being honest in trading, citing that whenever the dollar decreases, Somalis also reduce their prices in the petrol situation.
“We have a problem with retailers. Even when the dollar decreases, they don’t bring down the prices,” Bakuny lamented.
She added that even though traders are facing double taxation – they should also consider citizens’ pleas.
Mrs. Bakuny cited they would work hard to make sure that the government harmonizes taxes.
Chief of Economic Intelligence Division, Maj-Gen Chuol Rueny, echoed that “any single slight change of the dollar, the price of the commodity change. And the moment it changes, that continues.”
“Even if there is a decrease in dollar exchange, the commodity price remains higher. And this is the question? Why is that? What are the factors involved in the shooting up prices. Is it only the dollar rate, or are there other factors?”
Rueny cited a recent drop in the exchange rate when the commodity prices remained out of reach for citizens.
However, the merchants voiced a concern about multiple taxation and unnecessary fines that add burden to their businesses.
They also decried dollar fluctuation, which, according to them, plays a major role in price increments. Traders advised that the government give dollars to genuine traders rather than black market dealers.
Merchants ask the government to unify tax collection and use the digital mode of payment to quash rampant corruption.
For instance, some said the Juba City Council is finding a spider web on the shop roof at SSP 500,000.
They mooted a plan to form a joint task force to investigate the root causes, make recommendations, and conduct a study to address the nagging commodity prices headache once and for all.
The resolution of the meeting outcome is expected to be made public soon, with the hope that prices in the market might be reduced.