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South Sudan to seek foreign advice to fix economic crunch

Xinhua, August 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Sudan's newly appointed Finance Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau said Tuesday the government will seek advice from foreign economic advisers to address the economic turmoil in the world's youngest country.

Dau said the economy is at the brink and economic reforms such as improved revenue collection and transparency in public finance management have to be devised to save the war-torn country.

"We are going to work very closely with economic advisors from all relevant institutions in South Sudan as well as foreign advisors and consultants to get better views and recommendations on how the current economic situation could be improved," Dau said in Juba.

South Sudan depend on oil revenue for 98 percent of its budget, but production reduced significantly due the 2013 civil war, causing most oilfields in the country's northern Upper Nile region to shut down as production fell to below 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 350,000 bpd in the only functioning Paloch oil field of Upper Nile state.

The country's inflation forecast jumped to 324 percent in July with the local currency, the South Sudan pound (SSP) exchanging at 62 SSP for one U.S dollar.

Dau said his ministry will ramp up strategies to improve public resource mobilization and collection from both oil and non-oil resources to ease the biting economic crisis in the country.

"I will facilitate immediate establishment of the National Revenue Authority to increase collection of oil and non-oil resources. With improved revenue collection, a timely payment of salaries of civil servants will be ensured," he said.

South Sudan's transitional unity government, formed in April, has been embroiled in serious financial crisis as salaries for civil servants continue to be delayed amid recent escalation in violence across the country.

Dau said the government must urgently draft the 2016/2017 fiscal budget to allow implementation of the August 2015 peace agreement. Endit