S.Sudan releases budget after paying civil servants

By Benjamin Takpiny

JUBA, South Sudan (AA) - South Sudan on Monday presented a 2019-20 fiscal year budget of 208 billion South Sudanese pounds ($1.3 billion) to parliament after agreeing to pay six months’ salary arrears to civil servants.

The government pledged any further arrears will go in the regular monthly salaries.

The budget is meant to help the consolidation of peace and necessary reforms to stabilize the economy, Finance and Planning Minister Salvatore Garang Mabiordit said on Monday.

“We anticipate a rise in oil production, with additional oil fields coming on line,” Mabiordit said.

“The economic recovery process is also spurred by the revitalized peace agreement signed in September 2018.”

Mabiordit said the country is optimistic that as more people return home to engage in productive activities including agriculture, the economic recovery can be sustained.

“We need to do more to attract new investment into the oil sector, while improving trade,” he said, adding that for the first time, non-oil revenue is contributing about 23% of the total resource.

Amid a large deficit due to infrastructure spending, he said that the budget renews their commitment to limiting borrowing from the bank of South Sudan.

He said that the budget will be funded from oil production and collection of non-oil revenue plus anything coming from donors.