Juba, South Sudan,
July 04, 2021 – The Ministry of Finance and Planning has tabled 551 billion South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) before the Council of Ministers for the 2021/22 fiscal year.
According to Baba Medan, the Deputy Minister of Information who relayed the details to the Council of Ministers, further sitting was recommended to digest the budget, which is two times the SSP 205 billion presented in the last fiscal year.
“After the deliberation, the Council recommended for a further sitting so that we go into detail and address the concerns because this is a national budget and we have to focus on the concerns,” Medan told journalists Friday.
Mr. Medan did not go into details as to how the money will be allocated and what will be the priorities of the government.
Under normal circumstances, South Sudan’s financial year should cover 12 months running from 1st July to 30th June each year.
The national law also requires that the budget be submitted to the national legislature by not later than the 15th of May of each financial year. This has not happened due to the lack of a functional legislature.
On Saturday, President Salva Kiir reconstituted the Upper House of the national assembly ushering in a glimpse of hope toward the full reconstitution of the national legislative assembly.
Over 500 members appointed in the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly are yet to be sworn in.
The country has been without a functional parliament since the formation of the new government in February 2020. Reports on unprecedented corruption characterized the administration since then.
The swearing-in of the new members is slated for 9th July. It is not clear whether the Council of Ministers will wait until then for the budget to be passed for the first time in two years.
