The South Sudan National Revenue Authority (NRA) has launched a five-year strategic resources mobilization plan to reduce over-dependency on oil revenues.
Currently, 90 percent of South Sudan’s national budget is financed by resources generated from oil revenue.
Speaking to journalists during the launch in Juba on Wednesday, the Commissioner for the National Revenue Authority, Dr. Patrick Mugoya stated that the five-year plan will focus to reduce ninety percent dependency on oil revenue for the national budget to fifty percent.
“The initiative for attaining this noble goal which implies a reduction of the current 90 percent oil revenue dependency of the national government budget to 50 percent is the focus of the strategic plan which is being discussed today,” he said.
Dr. Mugoya appealed to the relevant bodies to cooperate with the NRA in implementing the new proposed policy.
“I wish to plea with all our stakeholders that once the strategic plan is approved alongside the proposed NRA human resource policies. I want to plead that NRA should be provided with the necessary space needed to implement the strategic plan without unnecessary interference but at the same time hold the National Revenue Authority fully accountable to the government and to the people of South Sudan for the outcome of that implementation”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Vice President for Economic Clusters, Dr. James Wani Igga charged the minister of finance to supervise the work of the National Revenue Authority, noting negative deals in the NRA.
“To the minister of finance, you have all the right to go up to the NRA there and be told in all details. It is true there is a lot of unnecessary distribution of money to other institutions by the revenue authority and at the end of the day they deduct what goes to the government,” Igga said.
“This workshop has to address that and the minister has the powers to improve on that so the culture of going left and right must really be controlled,” Igga added.
The Vice President urged the NRA board to initiate an internal process to streamline the operations of the new strategy.
“There is a need for the NRA management and board to expedite the internal process to approve the five-year strategic plan to pass it ahead quickly and the already,” he said.
Meanwhile, South Sudan’s Finance Minister, Agaak Achuil Lual also called on the National Revenue Authority to effectively use the non-oil revenues it collects in the next five years for infrastructural development in the country.
“If you use the tools given to you to collect the revenues for this country, then you will see some development coming up. There are countries without oil but they are building roads, schools and hospitals, but in addition to our oil, we still have problems. So, we need to put our house in order,” minister Achuil added.