South Sudan’s inflation more than doubled in July to reach an annual rate of 661.3 percent, its statistics office said on Monday, as the economy of the 5-year old nation continued to reel amid civil conflict.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages which increased by 788.6% from July 2015 to July 2016, while the prices for heath increased by 163.4%, restaurants and hotels increased by 277.5% over the same period.
The National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement that inflation jumped from 309.6 percent a month earlier due to rising food and non-alcoholic drinks prices. Prices rose 77.7 percent month-on-month in July.
Oil-producing South Sudan won independence from Sudan in 2011 but in December 2013 slid into a two-year civil war after a dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar.
READ; South Sudan Keen on setting up a stock exchange
The economy has been battered, driving prices higher.
In June, U.N. agencies said up to 4.8 million people in South Sudan face severe food shortages, the highest level since a conflict began.
Download; Press Release on South Sudan July Inflation
Sources; Reuters, Kenyan Wallstreet
