According to the latest  « Price monitoring Bulletin » produced by Central African Institute for Statistics, Economic and Social Studies (ICASEES) with support from the World Bank, the prices of basic imported food products, including milk powder, salt, sugar and

onions, have spiked from  15% to 240% in markets surveyed across Bangui, Bimbo and Bégoua during the first week of January.

These prices have significantly increased following the surge of insecurity and the blockage of the Douala-Bangui trade corridor. Hundreds of trucks with critical supplies of food products, humanitarian supplies and water treatment chemicals remain stranded at the border crossing. The prices of local food products such as palm oil, cassava and beef have also increased significantly between 16 and 44% — as a result of inter-regional supply disruptions following the intensification and spread of armed conflict in the region.

This new wave of price hikes and instability has escalated more sharply and rapidly compared to the volatility and increase in prices experienced during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020.

This is the third shock experienced by the Central African Republic over the last six months following the COVID-19 economic downturn and the October floods that hit the country where more than 70 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.