South Sudan’s cabinet has approved a 2023/2024 draft budget of 1.8 trillion South Sudanese Pounds, the information minister said.

Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting in Juba on Friday, Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said the draft budget will be referred to parliament for approval.

“The parliament will deliberate on it in June and pass it before the end of June so that by the first of July, the new budget will be operational,” Makuei added.

Makuei, who is also the government spokesman, said the budget presented by the finance minister prioritizes the peace process and stabilization of the country’s economy.

“The budget includes the increment of salaries by 400 percent and peace budget of 50 billion pounds, and there are a lot of arrears that have accumulated in all the ministries to the tune of 50 billion pounds also, and CDF [Constituency Development Fund] which is overdue, was also included with 27.9 pounds,” he explained.

The minister, however, did not say how much the estimated deficit in the budget was and how it will be covered.

South Sudan`s fiscal year runs from 1 July to 30 June the next year, however, the country has, on many occasions, not met the timelines as required by law.

The current running budget for 2022/2023 was approved by the parliament last September, nearly three months into the fiscal year. 

Separately, Information Minister Makuei said the Council of Ministers also extended the mandate of the National Constitutional Armaments Committee (NCAC) for four months to complete its work, pointing out that there are several laws that need to be amended.