South Sudan’s Kiir urges political parties to pass national budget

July 23, 2023 (JUBA) – South Sudan President Kiir has urged political parties to unify their position on the passing of the national budget.

The South Sudanese leader made the appeal during a meeting of political parties in government, which convened to discuss the budget deficits.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, the Presidential Affairs minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the country’s top leadership is committed to a budget that satisfies the salary scale of civil servants, the military and organized forces.

“The meeting explored ways to diversify revenue collection in regards to oil production, as the government looks forward to solving some of the problems, like strengthening our pounds so that the salaries given to civil servants, military and organized forces can be a living wage that a family can afford to have dinner at the table”, he explained.

During the meeting, leaders of the various political parties agreed to talk to their parliamentary caucuses to unify their position on passing of the national budget.

In May, South Sudan cabinet passed a SSP1.8 trillion budget for the fiscal year 2023/2024, up from the SSP1.4 trillion for the 2022/2023 period.

The 2023/2024 draft budget includes the increment of salaries by at least 400%, with the country’s security sector taking one of the largest budget allocations.

(ST)