Economics
Hyperinflation Stalks War-Torn South Sudan as Prices Spike
- Consumer prices jumped 109.9% in December as food costs soared
- Currency devaluation following oil slump adds to risks
Displaced people queue to register at the UNMISS Protection of Civilian (POC) site in Bentiu, South Sudan.
Photographer: Charles Lomodong/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Prices are spiraling out of control in South Sudan after two years of civil war and plunging oil prices forced the government to abandon its currency peg.
An 84 percent devaluation of the South Sudanese pound against the dollar last month is set to fuel hyperinflation in a country where surging food costs and a foreign-exchange shortage boosted consumer prices by 109.9 percent in December. The collapse in oil prices since 2014 has deepened the economic crisis by slashing government revenue and forcing SABMiller Plc, the nation’s main non-oil foreign investor, to shut its brewery.