The National Assembly passes the budget for 2021/2022 with SSP 338 billion

The Revitalized Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA) accepted and enacted SSP 338,043,747,701 as the budget for the fiscal year 2021/2022 on Thursday.

According to the administration, most of the approved budget has already been spent through presidential orders, and the budget has a two-month lifetime until the finance ministry must introduce the 2022/2023 budget in June.

The speaker of the national parliament, Jemma Nunu Kumba, asked the minister of finance and planning to present future budgets on time in her remark during the approval of the 2021/2022 budget on Thursday.

“We haven’t been adhering to our schedule very carefully. As a result, we anticipate the Ministry of Finance submitting the budget for 2022/2023 on schedule this time, “Speaker Kumba said. Let us do our best to adhere to the calendar as we seek to improve our country’s institutions. So, we anticipate that the budget will be presented by May and that the new budget will be passed by the end of June.

The agreed amount, according to the finance ministry, would be used to cover arrears for foreign missions, public personnel, and colleges.

“The cabinet agreed that a specific sum should be granted to the minister of foreign affairs in order for them to clear the wages of foreign embassies.” “I discovered it, but it’s now on my desk, and we’re working on it,” Finance Minister Agak Achuil Lual stated. “As soon as we get the funds, we will pay off any outstanding debts.” Remember, the arrears for foreign missions were 27 months, and when I arrived, I paid them for three months, bringing the total to 24 months.”

“We are working extremely hard to ensure that all unpaid months for overseas missions are cleared, including the organized forces, government officials, and universities,” he said.

Minister Achuil praised and congratulated RTNLA members for their persistent efforts in approving the budget.

According to John Agany, the RTNLA’s chairwoman of the Information and Communication Committee, the National Budget, as well as the Appropriation and Financial Bills, have finally been passed into effect.

“The finance and planning committee is thus requested to appropriate all corporate statements made by national members of parliament and to include them within one week into a final document that will be delivered to the president to be signed into law,” Agany said. “From now on, our government will operate within the authorized budget, despite the fact that the lifetime of this budget is relatively limited.”

The excess from the approved budget is about SSP 174,545,280,000, which the committee recommends be dispersed to expenditure agencies as follows: SSP 10,000,000 for the Ministry of Public Service and Human Resource Development, SSP 5,000,000,000 for the Agriculture Bank of South Sudan, SSP 8,611,080,483 for the Constituency Development Fund, SSP 179,454,525 for the Ministry of Peace Building, and SSP 233, 956, 6177 for the Urban Water Corporation.

In addition, the R-TNLA will receive SSP 34,680,211,008, SSP 4,203,156,357 from the Council of States, SSP 9,921,650 from the Parliamentary Service Commission, SSP 544,239,368 from the Finance Ministry to clear the Cooperative Bank balance, SSP 966,000,000 from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and SSP 60,000,000 from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

According to the finance minister, most of the money has already been spent, with barely one-quarter remaining. South Sudan’s fiscal year ends in June each year.