South Sudan cuts salaries to counter oil slump
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- Created on Thursday, 11 December 2008 17:42
- Written by Pachodo.org News Room
JUBA, Sudan, Dec 11 (Reuters) - South Sudan's semi-autonomous government has ordered a 10 per cent cut in the salaries of senior officials to make up for a slump in revenues from its main export oil, a minister said on Thursday.
The region gets 99 per cent of its revenues from oil. The price of oil has dropped from highs of $147 a barrel earlier this year to about $45 because of the global financial slowdown.
The south's Information Minister Gabriel Changson Chang said the government would also cut back on travel and stop putting up officials in expensive hotels in the region's capital Juba. "We will cut back 10 per cent of salaries of leadership positions," Chang told Reuters, saying the decision would hit ministers and senior executives from Jan. 1.
South Sudan won a share in the country's oil earnings in a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war between north and south Sudan. Salaries eat up most of the south's health, education and security budgets, the minister said. Sudan's national budget for 2009 forecast oil revenues would fall 43.7 percent next year to 7.9 billion Sudanese pounds ($3.6 billion). Sudan says it produces 500,000 barrels per day of crude. The country's mining and energy minister last month said it would raise that figure to 600,000 bpd in 2009.
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13-12-2008 10:21:25 |Unregistered| Simon Pito
Real, Nyaopun Aban Aban. They are jumping into reduction with out contrasting who earned highest and who earned last. For instance,
The ten per cent reducing from our soldier who earned $153.76, and advisers, ministers, governors, and Directors
Who earned $7000, &8000, and $6500 per month, its logics to make same scale of reduction egual? With citizens who is earning little.
Why our government is reducing ten per cent equal with those earned more?
Suppose our ministers should have been reduced of 20 per cent. if we meant to covers due to the economic global.
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Our government of South Sudan is not learning how to make all things possible when uncertainties have not rises to them.
We are happiest people in the world, even though with those problems we have at the moment. But, those who will learn to live with little things they are more perfect than what you aim, and its not coming at all. The happiness always looks very small when you hold it in your hands but, when you learn how to share it, you will realize how big and great precious it is!!! Although, the reduction was made, it will not help at all because; prices of commodities in markets were not regulated but, government investors’ jump into reduction as the solutions. It will not affect them since; everyone is to achieve his goals. Not public interests. For sure, when you think deeply how the president Salva Kiir with his cabinets the way he is driving South, one feel to jump out of that car.
Nyaopun Aban Aban