Commodity prices skyrocket while currency exchange rates plummet
Commodity prices in some regions of North Korea are skyrocketing while the country’s currency exchange rates continue to plummet. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un claimed during a recent Central Committee plenary session that North Korea’s economy had improved “overall” in the first half of the year, but reports from Daily NK sources in the country suggest that not all is well in the economy.
The KPW-USD exchange rate in Pyongyang was KPW 4,900 to the dollar on June 16. This is an 18.2% fall from the exchange rate of KPW 5,990 to the dollar on June 8. Exchange rates are also plummeting in other major North Korean cities, including Sinuiju (KPW 5,000 to the dollar) and Hyesan (KPW 4,850 to the dollar) as of June 16. The exchange rates in these cities have fallen by 15% or more compared to June 8.
The KPW-RMB exchange rate is also falling. Daily NK found that on June 16 Pyongyang’s KPW-RMB exchange rate was KPW 560 against the RMB, with Sinuiju and Hyesan recording KPW 555 and RMB 558, respectively, against the RMB. Again, the exchange rates in these cities have fallen 15-19% compared to June 8. ......
[Source: Daily NK]
