The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement faction controlling the government in Juba said on Wednesday that it is seeking loans from multiple financial institutions to finance the continuation of government activities.
Mary Jervas Yak, deputy finance minister in the SPLM-Juba led government, said that her institution has approved the borrowing of up to $500,000,000 to cover the deficit in the budget intended to support the running of the day-to-day activities and government business.
Yak did not disclose the terms of the loans such as the interest rate and period of repayment, should the government succeed to get loans.
The official, however, admitted that they are in talks with groups tied to the United Arabs Emirates to explore ways how the loan could be expedited.
“We are in talks with a consortium of business groups which have been identified and expressed willingness to help contact the government to those ready to provide the loan in the shortest time possible,” said Yak when asked how soon was the government expecting the loan in the treasury.
Several sources at the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday that the terms of the loan are being negotiated with the help of an Arab business consortium to borrow money from ADNOK of the United Arab Emirates, but noted the interest charges are extremely high compared to normal charges in the international markets.
This comes after the council of ministers on Friday accepted a memo presented by Finance Minister-designate David Deng Athorbei, asking for approval to seek a loan to cover the deficit reportedly created by overwhelming expenditure by the ministry of defense and other security-related institutions in the country.
The government is faced with dwindling hard currency reserves and reduced revenue owing to the global fall in oil prices and production drops.
Photo: Finance Minister-designate David Deng Athorbei
Related:
South Sudan now in 4th week without legal finance minister (5 Feb.)