As South Sudan’s national currency continues to decline in value local authorities in the eastern South Sudanese border town Akobo have declared that Ethiopian currency may be used in local markets instead of the South Sudanese pound.
According to a notice posted on the Akobo main market board, Commissioner of Akobo East County Tut Chot Rial has ordered all traders to recognize the birr as valid legal tender.
Local authorities also set their own local peg for the rate of the Ethiopian birr to the South Sudanese pound at 1 SSP for 2.8 ETB. This is less than half the rate the pound would trade against the birr if South Sudan’s central bank rate were used.
It also compares unfavorably to the exchange rate used in the area before the civil war started in December 2013, which was about 1 SSP for 5.4 ETB.
Akobo County is ruled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), a group that broke away from the country’s ruling party following the outbreak of violence in Juba in December 2013. The county and other surrounding areas under SPLM-IO control rely largely on goods imported from Ethiopia as roads to government areas have been cut off.
Related: Read more from the series ‘War Economy‘