By Deng Athian
National Minister of Road and Bridges Simon Mijok Mijak has urged citizens not to solely blame the Bank of South Sudan for the country’s economic problems.
Instead, he urged everyone to focus on improving food production as a means to boost the economy.
Speaking during the inauguration ceremony of the official villa of the Central Bank’s Governor, said the bank should be seen as a storage facility and regulator of monetary policies, rather than a producer.
“Our people are addicted to Dollar and Oil and they don’t know that dollar comes from production. Our production is only on oil which generates money, so the blame for the economic problem is not on the Bank of South Sudan. It is us, including myself. What are we producing so that our bank is strengthened with lots of reserves and revenues because the bank is just storage and policies to regulate the Bank?” Mijok stressed.
He further explained that a modern state is characterized by four key aspects.
Firstly, he said an effective Ministry of Public Service and the police are essential.
The minister said that a flourishing economy can be achieved through the absence of embezzlement and the presence of the rule of law. This, in turn, leads to a strong ruling party.
Mijok said the last one is strong leadership.
Minister Mijok expressed his optimism that South Sudan is on the path to achieving these characteristics and commended the human capital within the Bank of South Sudan for their contributions.
In response, Dr. James Alic Garang, the Governor of the Bank of South Sudan, expressed his commitment to serving the people of South Sudan with professionalism.
He highlighted the recent efforts of the bank’s management, under his leadership, to open and ensure the functionality of branches across the states.
” Why are we doing this? We are doing it for two reasons. One is to finish what we started and number two, is to ensure that we are providing our services to our people wherever they are,” Dr. Alic stated.