High production costs have forced two Arabic newspapers off the streets of the South Sudanese capital Juba, according to the editor of the daily newspaper Al-Mowgif. The development is related the the lack of availability of US dollars in the country.
Radio Miraya reports that the Al-Mauqif and Al-Rai daily publications are complaining of high costs of printing and a lack of hard currency. Citing Mathiang Cirilo, the Editor-in-Chief of Al-Mowgif, the UN radio station reported that the main printing company in Juba, Universal Printing Press, has raised its charges from 2 to 2.6 pounds per copy, affecting the papers.
“The reason is that the owners of the printing press have decided to raise the printing costs. They say the papers and ink are being imported and they don’t have access to hard currency; they buy from the black market; so they had to increase the printing cost for a copy from 2 to 2.6 pounds.”