The Minister of Finance, Salvatore Garang Mabiordit

Much of the funds from the new budget will be used to clear unpaid arrears and obligations that were unnecessarily accrued by the government spending agencies, according to the Minister of Finance.

Salvatore Garang Mabiordit said there have been too much spending by various government institutions on medical costs, unbudgeted foreign travels, exemptions, and unverified payroll systems.

He told the members of parliament on Monday that despite improvement in oil and non-oil revenue collections, much of last year’s funds were also used to repay oil companies that previously provided advances to the government.

According to the new budget, the government is expected to clear unpaid arrears amounting to 17.4 billion South Sudanese Pounds.

“The current stock of arrears certainly runs into billions of South Sudan Pounds and continue to increase as spending agencies continue to enter into new commitments and obligations that are not justifiable and affordable,” said Mr Garang.

This financial year’s budget is estimated at over 81 billion South Sudanese Pounds.

Mr. Garang said the government will spend most of the funds in the new budget on 12 months of unpaid embassy salaries, three months of national salaries, and five months of state transfers.

Speaking at the Transitional National Legislative Assembly on Monday where he presented the budget in a new brief case, Salvatore Garang said illegal tax exemptions, and paying off of constitutional post holders are among some of the reasons for the deficit.

“I will be establishing an Arrears Management Committee, which will oversee the process of taking stock of our existing arrears, develop an arrears clearance plan and recommending measures to prevent accumulation of new arrears,” he said.

The Minister has requested the Auditor General to verify arrears that are justifiable.

He said the priorities for this budget is to stabilize prices by reducing inflation, consolidating peace, and keeping government running at all levels.

There has been no salary increase in this year’s budget, and it does not cater for any developmental projects.

Minister Garang added that they are avoiding any excessive borrowing from the Central Bank of South Sudan