Closing shops and stopping gas stations in Sudan amid a sharp decline in the currency

Shops were closed in the Libya Market and the Popular Market, while some gas stations stopped working. Traders and local sources attributed these developments to the sharp fluctuation in the exchange rate and the widening difference between the official price and the parallel market.

Shop owners said that they are facing difficulty in repurchasing the goods they sell, due to the rapid rise in their prices, noting that some merchants were forced to buy goods at prices higher than their previous selling prices.

A 50-kilogram bag of sugar reached between 430 and 450 thousand pounds, while oil jerry cans reached 350,000 pounds, white rice 250,000, and a bag of lentils 200,000 pounds.

Some merchants resorted to converting their money into foreign currencies and gold jewelry, in an attempt to protect their capital from the decline in the value of the pound.

The market turmoil coincided with the price of the dollar exceeding 8,000 pounds in the parallel market, compared to about 6,000 pounds as the highest price in the official market at the Nile Bank.

The large discrepancy between the official and parallel prices and the continuous fluctuation in the value of the pound led some merchants to suspend sales operations, waiting for the exchange rate to stabilize and the re-pricing of goods.

On the other hand, citizens expressed their inability to keep up with the rising costs of living, after the price of a kilogram of sugar reached 10,000 pounds, coinciding with the increase in transportation tariffs.

Several Sudanese cities are witnessing a severe scarcity of fuel and vehicles queuing in front of service stations, while the near absence of gasoline has led to the disruption of the movement of some trucks and public transportation and the closure of commercial stations.

The fuel shortage was directly reflected in the costs of transporting goods to markets, increasing pressure on commodity prices.

Those interested in economic affairs link the deterioration of the pound to the repercussions of the war that has been going on for nearly four years, and the accompanying decline in exports, weak production, and supply disruption, amid demands for the government to take urgent measures to reduce the rise in prices and fuel scarcity.