Engineer Awow Daniel, the Minister of Finance and Planning - Credit: Office of the President - March 19, 2024

The Minister of Finance and Planning has announced that the government is knocking on the doors of foreign countries to seek financial support to address the country’s economic challenges.

Engineer Awow Daniel, who recently returned from an overseas trip, has emphasized the government’s diplomatic initiatives in seeking financial support.

He says the disruption in oil flow from crucial fields due to the conflict in Sudan has exacerbated the economy of South Sudan.

According to Awow, South Sudan relying 90% on the oil proceeds for its annual budget, has posed severe challenges to the country’s economy.

The depreciation of the South Sudanese pound against the dollar has led to a sharp rise in commodity prices such as fuel, food, and other necessities.

In addition, the government’s inability to pay civil servants salaries for more than six months has caused immense suffering to the citizens.

During a recent press conference, Minister Eng. Awow Daniel Chuang underscored the government’s proactive stance in seeking assistance to mitigate the economic crisis.

“We are working very hard at the Ministry of Finance and Planning with the relevant institutions like NRA and Central Bank as well as Minister of Petroleum to avail some resources for us to arrest the situation,” said Awow.

“We just arrived from a trip trying to help the situation by knocking on doors and getting quick support from governments,” he said.

“We know that the situation has been accessible by the situation in Sudan. You know that South Sudan depends on oil and 90% or more and the oil is not flowing in some of the fields that are so critical for South Sudan.”

Minister Awow disclosed plans to allocate a one-month salary to civil servants, admitting the hardship faced by the citizens.

“The people have not been receiving salaries for the so for six months now, there has been no salary, and the market has gone very high,” Awow said.

“We understand the resilience of our people that the market is not in favour of anyone. We are making every effort to get something to people and we started to work with the Central Bank for the Ministry of Finance to release salaries for at least one month.”