Goc Makuac, chairperson of South Sudan’s parliamentary committee for finance and economic affairs said the ongoing war and violence is the sole reason why the country’s economy is unstable.

Goc told Radio Tamazuj in an interview on Wednesday that South Sudanese citizens are suffering badly from high prices of commodities due to soaring prices of the US dollar at the market.

He further said stability can only be achieved when there is peace. “The only solution to stabilize this country is to stop the war across the country. Secondly, we should increase our production and not only depend on oil or import items,” said Goc.

The lawmaker stressed that there is need to identify other sources of income to address the government’s overreliance on oil revenue.

Last week, there was a public outcry as prices of consumer goods shot up due to a rise in hard currency rates.

Photo: Goc Makuac, February 15, 2015. (The Niles/Deng Machol Monyrach)