Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Despite the attempts by the Central Bank of South Sudan to inject more hard currency into the market through auctioning US dollars through commercial banks and forex bureaus, the exchange rate against the dollar remains high.
A spot check conducted by The City Review in Juba yesterday established that the exchange rate of the dollar in the black market remains at SSP45,000 per $100.
In the first week of January 2022, the dollar exchange rate in the black market has been fluctuating between SSP 44,000 and SSP 45,000 per $100 compared to last year’s rate where $100 was sold between SSP 40,000 and SSP 42,000 in the black market.
Magok Makur, one of the currency exchange dealers at Konyo-Kony Market, said they have been selling $100 at about SSP45,000, and they normally buy from the clients at SSP44,000 and sometimes 43,000 per $100.
Makur revealed that since the beginning of this year, the rate of the dollar has never dropped from SSP45,000 per $100, although sometimes others sell at SSP43,000 due to ignorance.
“I have to tell you here, my friend, the real exchange rate of $100 in the black market is SSP45,000, but if you go to places like Custom or where you see many dollar sellers gathered in one place, they can even tell you how much you want to give them.”
“But it is dangerous because you either end up getting less money or if you are wise, they may give you your original money back or give a fake one. So, you will be cheated in these two areas,” Makur stated.
But, according to Majak, who works in the customs market, when there is a low demand for dollars, the situation forces them to lower the rate slightly.
“Since the beginning of 2022, the dollar rate has not dropped from SSP45,000. We sell $100 for SSP45,000; maybe some people can sell less than that, but the difference may not be much,” Majak said.
When asked why some people sell for less than SSP45,000, he said: “It’s called the black market. That is why everyone has to decide on their prices because, at the end of the day, the person knows where he or she can recover; so it depends.”
“We have seen many people end up crying because of the cheap things here at Custom,” he said.
However, the dollar exchange rate in the Juba town is different from the other places in the city. Sometimes the rate goes up to SSP46,000 per $100, according to The City Review survey.
Order issued
The fiscal gambit was founded by the former Boss Governor, Dier Tong Ngor, who said that the bank’s main aim in auctioning US dollars was to unify the exchange rate.
“Multiple rates are not good for the economy [and] that is why we are introducing this reform with the ultimate goal that we want to unify the exchange rate.”
“With the auction and the reform that we are doing now, we are also addressing that (black market dealers) because [of] those who are hoarding dollars.
“If we continue to supply dollars to the market, definitely the exchange rate will stabilise and the pound will gain strength,” said Ngor before his dismissal.
The weekly auction managed to at least stabilise the high black market exchange rate, dropping from above SSP60,000 per $100 to SSP40,000 per $100, which was maintained up to the end of last year.
But three weeks into the first month of January 2022, the dollar appreciated against the South Sudanese Pound, making a mockery of the campaign that tried to give the SSP a break.
A few weeks ago, the new Central Governor Moses Makur Deng announced an increase in the weekly auction of US dollars from $5 million to $13 million.
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