This article analyses price shifts after currency devaluation in the Ivory Coast using a time-series modelling approach. Model results identify the liberalisation of the import-rice sector as the key factor for the transmission of price effects. Fixation of the imported rice price as a social compensatory measure hindered the adjustment of prices in the first year after the devaluation. As soon as the price controls on imported rice were lifted, prices changed in favour of tradable goods. The findings in this paper hint at a possible trade-off between the protection of vulnerable groups during the process of adjustment and the intended incentive effect. ©2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.