Members of South Sudan’s national parliament have called for accountability for officials who manage the country’s public funds.
Deputy Minister of Finance May Yak said on Monday that this year’s fiscal budget does not include funds for development due to the troubled financial situation in South Sudan. Yak admitted that there were mistakes in last year’s budget which lead to a budget deficit of 47%.
Since December 2015, the value of the SSP has tumbled, and the country has experienced hyperinflation. Roughly half of this years fiscal budget goes to the military, which will receive more than 11 billion SSP. In the budget 177 million SSP was allocated for the social and humanitarian affairs sector, and the country’s the infrastructure sector will receive SSP 466 million.
Members of the parliament also criticized policies of not monitoring commercial banks in South Sudan.
Madaw Lat said the national oil companies are playing a negative role, and are not providing enough fuel in the country. Peter Bashir Gbandi, the minister of parliamentary affairs said the current budget is not complete, and basic items like development and healthcare are not provided to its citizens.
The members of parliament also stressed that a more formal accounting system should be introduced that tracks public sector workers