JUBA – President Salva Kiir held a consultative meeting with the heads of economic institutions including his deputy Benjamin Bol Mel, finance minister Athian Diing Athian and Bank of South Sudan governor Addis Ababa Othow, on Wednesday.
The meeting focused on the prevailing economic challenges facing the nation and explored strategies to revive, stabilize, and strengthen South Sudan’s economy, the president’s office said in a statement.
The officials also discussed preparations for the upcoming International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Annual Meetings, where South Sudan will seek support for its ongoing fiscal and monetary reforms.
“The leadership reaffirmed its collective commitment to implementing sound economic policies and reforms, enhancing national resilience against shocks, and presenting a unified strategy for effective engagement with international financial institutions,” Kiir’s office said further,
“This engagement reflects the Government’s determination to restore economic stability, build investor confidence, and foster sustainable growth for the benefit of all South Sudanese people.”
South Sudan is facing deepening economic crisis where civil servants are rarely paid on time and the local currency has drastically depreciated. The situation has been blamed on a recent rapture of an oil pipeline and systematic corruption.
A new UN report has found that systemic government corruption, implicating Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel and other political elites, has siphoned tens of billions of dollars of public revenue and unleashed immense crises that must be urgently addressed.
