South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
Two ministers have blamed inflation and low agricultural production for the hunger crisis in the country.
This was revealed on Tuesday by the Minister of Finance and Planning, Eng. Awow Daniel Chuang and Josephine Lagu Yanga, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security while appearing for questioning before MPs in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) in Juba.
MPs summoned the ministers in May 2024, to provide answers for the high food prices amid reported hunger in some parts of the country.
Josephine Lagu Yanga, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security attributed the prevailing hunger and food insecurity to low agricultural production in the country.
“We will address the critical issue of how we can and how we should increase agricultural production in this country, because hunger and food insecurity is indirectly caused by low agricultural production and productivity in the country,” Lagu said.
She blamed the hunger on continued underfunding of the agricultural sector over the past budgetary cycles.
“Since 2020, when the revitalized transitional unity government was established, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has been on an annual basis submitting its budget proposal to the Ministry of Finance and Planning. From our record, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has received zero funding for its capital fund, for its capital expenditure for over four years,” Lagu said.
Eng. Awow Daniel Chuang, Minister of Finance and Planning said the limited foreign reserves have meant the government cannot intervene enough in the market to stabilize prices of commodities.
“These prices are connected to inflation, and this inflation is connected to the amount of (foreign) reserves. If you don’t have enough reserves the inflation will go high because you cannot intervene with enough resources,” Chuang said.
He said the government is currently working hard to stabilize the currency exchange rate.
“Because we couldn’t sustain the exchange rate for a long time, that’s why it keeps on going and coming down. But we are still fighting it up to now and that’s why the intervention was actually done with little resources,” Chuang disclosed.
Chuang promised to pay the salaries of civil servants and members of organized forces in the coming few days.
“When we get some little money we put it into the market, then now it comes back in SSP. This SSP will accumulate and now we are going to use it for payment of the salaries. I can tell you that within the next few days we are going to pay salaries,” he assured.
William Anyuon Kuol, the Minister of Trade and Industry said his ministry has supplied the market with essential commodities to subsidize the market.
“The Ministry of Trade and Industry is working diligently to make sure the essential commodities are really available in the market at subsidized prices,” Anyuon said.
Anyuon said this initiative aims to alleviate the financial burdens on the majority of poor families.
“The Ministry of Trade and Industry is closely monitoring the price of essential commodities through price control and taking measures to stabilize them,” he said.
