South Sudan’s draft 2025/26 national budget plans to transfer 548.94 billion South Sudanese pounds (SSP) to states and administrative areas, with more than 60 percent of the funds earmarked for salaries, according to detailed expenditure tables reviewed by Radio Tamazuj.
Warrap State is set to receive the largest allocation at 38.16 billion SSP, followed by Jonglei State with 34.14 billion SSP, Lakes State with 31.30 billion SSP and Upper Nile State with 29.76 billion SSP.
Central Equatoria State is allocated 27.58 billion SSP, Northern Bahr el Ghazal 26.29 billion SSP, Unity State 25.09 billion SSP and Western Equatoria 22.81 billion SSP. Eastern Equatoria State is set to receive 16.66 billion SSP, while Western Bahr el Ghazal is allocated 19.52 billion SSP.
The three administrative areas are also included in the transfer plan, with the Greater Pibor Administrative Area allocated 9.03 billion SSP, Ruweng Administrative Area 5.31 billion SSP and the Abyei Administrative Area 3.86 billion SSP.
The proposed transfers represent a sharp increase from the 344.06 billion SSP actually disbursed to states and administrative areas in the 2024/25 fiscal year.
Of the total, 335.18 billion SSP is ring-fenced for conditional salary transfers, underlining the government’s continued focus on stabilising public sector payrolls. A further 204.26 billion SSP is allocated for operating costs, while 9.50 billion SSP is directed to service delivery units, mainly in the health sector.
A large share of the transfer envelope will be administered by national ministries rather than paid directly into state treasuries. The Rule of Law sector receives the biggest allocation at 150.33 billion SSP, funding police support services, prisons and fire prevention.
Education is allocated 103.91 billion SSP for basic and post-primary schooling, while Natural Resources and Rural Development is set to receive 77.37 billion SSP, largely for wildlife and tourism programmes.
The discretionary transfers are separate from mandatory expenditures with regional impact, including 846.67 billion SSP in oil-related transfers to Sudan and constitutionally required shares for oil-producing states and communities, which are listed elsewhere in the budget.
The draft budget must be debated and approved by parliament before it can take effect. It was tabled before lawmakers last week by Finance Minister Bak Barnaba Chol.
The proposed budget projects total expenditure of 8.58 trillion SSP against expected revenues of 7.01 trillion SSP, leaving a financing gap of 1.57 trillion SSP.
The committee in charge of finance in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly plans to conduct a public hearing on the national budget on Thursday and Friday.