A little over two weeks into the second term administration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Liberian dollar has plummeted against the greenback thus prompting a hike in the prices of basic commodities on the local market.

In the face of no official statement on the matter, entrepreneurs in the country are blaming the Ministry of Commerce, which they accuse of not implementing price control on the market, while the Central Bank of Liberia refuses to regulate one currency regime.

An investigation conducted by this paper at the weekend to authenticate the constant increase of US$ rate to the local currency indicated that more Liberian dollars flooded the market chasing the US dollar.

By the end of 2011, the foreign exchange rate here was US$1 to LD71 but with three weeks into the New Year, the current rate is US$1 to LD74.50. It was only during the April 6 war in Monrovia that one greenback fetched 80 Liberian dollars.

The investigation also discovered that the prices of goods once sold at standard prices have increased in recent days, with “butter rice” sold at LD2, 200 a 100lb bag, now costing LD2,400 for the quantity.

A gallon of gasoline has gone from LD290 to LD310 while a 100 lb bag of sugar rose from LD3,700 to 4,000.

Others commodity price include; a crate of stout sold at LD$1600 is now LD$2000 while large beer is sold at LD$1650 from its previous price of LD$1,100.

Jenkins Kolubah Zayzay, a money exchanger in Paynesville, said they usually experienced a slight hike in prices for goods coupled an increase between the US$ and LD after Christmas holidays.

“This is not strange to us. It happens usually after the Christmas holidays. But the central bank and commerce ministry have a problem to regulate one currency and price control on our market. When the central bank opens a bidding process for the sale of Liberian dollars, they target business people they favour by giving them huge sums of money. Such individuals enter the market and purchase more US$ in order to either travel or make transfer out of the country to buy sufficient goods,” Mr. Zayzay said.

Reflecting on his 14 years of business in Monrovia, Mark Johnson, told our reporter that the price hike is “not unusual, I’ve never heard about decrease in prices, but always increases in the prices of commodities”.