A member of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) has raised serious concerns about implementing the Financial Act which President Salva Kiir assented in late November 2024.
Addressing a press conference at the TNLA in Juba on Thursday, Eng. Mayen Deng Alier, Chairperson for the Standing Committee on Trade and Industry, said the Financial Act was designed to help salvage the economic situation by ensuring the realization of projected revenues.
“However, its implementation has been marred by a lot of confusion and resistance from the business community and consumers. This has resulted in several consignments being stagnant in Mombasa and Nimule and several fuel marketers and traders refusing to commit their resources into investing in the refined fuel market in South Sudan,” he stated. “This situation has created unnecessary speculation in the market and as a result, traders have raised prices in anticipation of the worst. The Committee has engaged the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the National Bureau of Standards, the South Sudan Revenue Authority (SSRA), and other relevant institutions.”
Deng noted that South Sudan`s economy is on the verge of collapse if urgent measures are not devised to salvage it and that there is a serious disparity between the theoretical and practical implementation of the Financial Act. He attributed this to a lack of ownership of trade functions by the National Ministry of Trade and Industry.
According to the lawmaker, several clearing agents and businessmen complain about illegal levies not stipulated in the Financial Act.
He said different institutions duplicate taxes and that the Ministry of Trade and Industry needs to estimate the overall costs of essential products and their projected retail prices and publish them in newspapers weekly.
Deng said they intend to summon leadership of ministries of trade and industry, finance, petroleum, the Bureau of Standard, Revenue Authority, the Chamber of Commerce, and Crawford Capital on Tuesday next week to explain the act’s implementation.