Traders in Pibor ‘ordered’ not to raise prices

Authorities in Pibor County have ordered traders in the county to lower prices of food commodities, prompting complaints from traders that they are losing money instead of profiting.

Authorities in Pibor County have ordered traders in the county to lower prices of food commodities, prompting complaints from traders that they are losing money instead of profiting.

“We are not making profit but there is no option,” Abdulkareem Abdalla, a trader in Pibor said. For example, traders say they buy a bag of sugar 50 kg at 600 South Sudanese pounds and sell to the public at 600 pounds, losing 100 pounds because of expenses.

“The government ordered us not to raise our prices,” one trader said.

Although the traders say they are complying with Pibor County’s orders to lower prices, they complain that they have suffered great losses and that the government lacks a solution to save the economy from collapse.