President Salva Kiir meets with the Sudanese government delegation; photo - South Sudan Presidential Press Unit

The government should spend less on military in the next fiscal year budget in order to improve the economy, says the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission.

Over the years, the security has been given the biggest percentage of South Sudan’s budget.

Last week, the Minister of Finance presented the 2018/2019 financial budget of over 81 billion pounds before the Transitional National Legislative Assembly.

“The TGoNU needs to undertake expenditure reorientation away from military spending and continue to mobilise non-oil revenue sources in an effort to improve the country’s fiscal outlook,” JMEC said in the second quarterly report by chairperson Fetus Mogae.

The Security Sector still has the largest allocation of 15.9 billion that will entirely be funded by the country’s resources.

Meanwhile, the Humanitarian Affairs and Economic Functions Sectors have been given the least shares.

The Humanitarian sector is mostly funded by international donors.

In the report on the Status of implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, JMEC said to realize economic stability and growth there is need for sustained peace.

“The recent signing of the Khartoum Declaration combined with the pledge to increase oil production in Unity State is a step in the right direction,” it added.

However, JMEC said spending less on the military should be accompanied by continued mobilization of non-oil revenue sources to improve the country’s fiscal outlook.

It further said that a better fiscal position and higher oil export levels are expected to reduce inflationary pressure and restrict the depreciation in the exchange rate.

Both are necessary conditions for setting the basis for sustained economic growth, JMEC stressed.