Prices of essential commodities have shot up at the market in Renk town in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State, locals said.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Sunday, several residents decried the rise in prices and deteriorating economic situation.

They said there wasn't enough money to buy essential goods at the market. “A sack of sugar costs 530 SSP whereas a jerrycan of cooking oil reached 350 SSP,” one resident said.

Food prices at restaurants have reportedly doubled.

For their part, traders attributed the problem to smuggling of goods from neighbouring Sudan as they are far from the South Sudanese capital Juba.