South Sudan’s government on Monday pledged to make civil servants happy by paying their salaries before the Christmas.
Speaking to reporters after his return from a meeting in Vienna for members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as well as non-OPEC states, Minister of Petroleum Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth said President Kiir had instructed the relevant ministries to pay salaries before the Christmas.
“We have received instructions from President Salva Kiir Mayardit. He has instructed me, the minister of petroleum and also the minister of finance Stephen Dhieu Dau to make sure that salaries of civil servants are paid before Christmas,” he said.
“I wanted to inform the people of South Sudan that the instruction of the president will be implemented and the people of South Sudan will be paid their salaries before Christmas, so starting from next week they will be getting their salaries,” he added.
However, Gatkuoth admitted that oil production in the country declined due to ongoing civil war, but said efforts are being exerted to increase the output.
"If you look at the production in Dar Petroleum or DPOC in Paloch, we used to produce 270,000 bpd but now we are producing 135-140,000 bpd. Then if you go to GPOC we used to produce close to 200,000 barrels a day but now we are producing zero,” said Gatkuoth.
“So we have agreed with Sudan to resume the production there," he added.
South Sudan, where oil revenues make up nearly 98 percent of the budget, has been reeling under an economic crisis due to the ongoing war.