South Sudan’s finance minister last week tabled to cabinet a budget of SSP 862 billion for the 2022/23 financial year.
Agak Achuil Lual presented the draft estimates to the cabinet during a regular council of ministers meeting on Friday.
Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth told journalists after the meeting that the biggest percentage of the budget will be generated from oil revenues.
“This was the first part of the budget and the ceiling was SSP 862 billion. SSP 763 billion will be from the oil revenues and SSP 99 billion pounds will be from non-oil revenues, from taxes,” he said.
Minister Makuei said that he is optimistic that this time this budget will go through the necessary procedures and be approved by parliament.
“The cabinet decided that the envelope or the ceiling should be reviewed. It should go back to the ministry of finance and planning so that the institutions concerned go report immediately to the ministry of finance to have further discussions on areas of concern because, in the next meeting, the budget has to come to the cabinet in its complete form,” he said.
In the last financial year, the cabinet passed a budget of SSP 287 billion.
By law, the budget is supposed to be submitted to the national legislature no later than 15 May, but this has not been happening for the last three years.