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Lawmakers demand to know S. Sudan’s external debts

Author: Baria Johnson | Published: August 27, 2024

National Parliament|Photo by Obaj Okuj|04-06-2024

Some lawmakers in the National Parliament raised concerns about lack of clarity on the total debts South Sudan owes abroad.

The came up during a sitting to listen to a report of the Public Account Committee on the June event organized in Addis Ababa by the African Development Institute of African Development Bank Group in mid-June

The event aimed at strengthening the capacity of transitional states for effective management and mitigation of debt stress.

During today’s sitting, MP Juol Nhomngek who hails from Cuibet County questioned how much South Sudan has borrowed from other countries.

According to Nhomngek, since he became an MP in 2021, the government has never presented any proposals for loan borrowings before the August House.

“Up to now, we are not clear on the total debt that was borrowed from other countries because since we came here in 2021, we have never received any presentation to do with approval of debt.

“We have seen some ministers going alone to borrow money for the next 50 years. The law implies that whatever money we get whether is borrowed or not, it must be put on budget.”

Lawmaker Rose Kematie who comes from Eastern Equatoria agrees.  She said it is a shame that MPs lack information about the country’s debts.

“If you ask as member of parliament how much debts are accounted on you that your grand children are going to pay, do you know, am asking my colleagues. Do we know how much debts we have in the country.

“It a shame to us as members representing the people if you are asked how many debts the country have and we do not know,” she said.

For his part, David Nyalo calls for the inclusion of debts in the budget, and how much a minister is authorized to borrow.

“We want debts to GDP-ratio understood. We also want to know in the upcoming budget how much is debt to the total budget. How much do we authorize our minister to go and borrow?  We will eventually give him the opportunity to go and borrow.

MP Nyalo believes there is a huge gap in the budget in terms of borrowed finance and revenue generated income.

 World Bank assessment of S. Sudan past debts

In 2020, South Sudan’s owed the World Bank amounted 79 million US dollars on International Development Association terms, 28 million to the African Development Bank, 150 to the China-Exim Bank to upgrade the Juba International Airport and debt to the QNB amounted to US$627 million.

However, the authorities have almost entirely paid back the residual oil advances contracted in the past but around 138 million had remain in June 2020.

According to World Bank-IMF, South Sudan committed temporary breaches in two out of seven debt indicators under the debt service-to-revenues ratio of external public debt, and present value of debt-to-GDP ratio of overall public debt.

These breaches – according to World Bank and IMF – suggest a high risk of external and overall public debt distress.

However, the institutions said all external and overall public debt indicators are expected to be below the respective thresholds from 2024/25 onwards.

World Bank and IMF said the authorities in South Sudan agreed with the assessment of the DSA.

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