By Philip Buda Ladu
The Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) has been forced to postpone the deliberation on the draft fiscal budget for 2024/2025 until the first week of November due to absence of the Minister of Finance and Planning.
In September, Finance Minister Dr. Marial Dongrin Ater presented the proposed budget ceiling of 4.2 trillion South Sudan Pounds (SSP) to the parliament for review, nearly three months after July 1st, the start of the new fiscal year.
Following a 21-day review by the specialized committees, the TNLA was prepared to proceed with the second reading of the budget. However, the absence of the Finance Minister, who is currently attending an international financial summit in the United States, has necessitated a delay.
The parliament has set a tentative date in the first week of November for the resumption of budget discussions, contingent on the Minister’s return to the country.
According to the Conduct of Business Regulation of the TNLA 2021, the discussion of the budget must be done in the presence of the Minister of Finance.
“The budget will be tabled on the 4th of November because the minister (Marial Dongrin Ater) went to New York for the meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Groups,” said Oliver Morris Benjamin Parliament’s spokesperson in an interview.
The 2024 Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group (WBG) will take place from Monday, October 21 to Saturday, October 26 with the main ministerial meetings and events taking place between, and 22-to-25 October 2024.
The parliament’s spokesperson stressed that the budget must be discussed in the presence of the minister adding only God knows when he will return.
“We as parliament, have scheduled the tabling on the 4th of November. We are only waiting for the minister to come and it will be tabled,” Mori emphasized.
The first passed by the cabinet in August has a deficit of 1.9 trillion SSP, which represents 45% of total expenditures.
The budget draft prioritizes funding for the revitalized peace implementation, clearing salary arrears for civil servants, and supporting the agriculture and mining sectors to reduce overdependence on oil revenues, which currently account for over 90% of the government’s income.
However, to mitigate this deficit, the government plans to implement several financial strategies, including the resumption of Dar blend exports, exchange rate realignment, seeking grants, and securing borrowings.
The cabinet further proposed the introduction of austerity measures such as rationalizing expenditures, cutting capital investments, and reducing foreign travel to better manage the financial shortfall.
South Sudan is the only member state of the East African Community (EAC) that is operating without a new fiscal budget which like the rest should have come into force on the 1st of July but the young nation seems to make its government spending on an extended old closed budget.
With October now ruled out for the budget debate and approval, the country will close the first quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year in November without a budget sanction for the execution of government expenditures.
This comes against the backdrop of civil servants and organized forces going for ten months without salaries.