South Sudan to cut hiked work permit fee by 50 pct after outcry

JUBA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Annual work permit fees for foreigners working in South Sudan will be reduced by 50 percent, the country's labor ministry said on Tuesday.

Gathoth Gatkuoth, Labor and Public Service Minister, told a news conference that government was prompted to review the work permit fee after an outcry from humanitarian agencies and the public.

In March 2017, South Sudan increased work permit fees for foreign workers from 100 to 10,000 dollars as a measure to fight economic crisis.

The Finance Ministry said at the time that the hiked fee would rise vital revenue for the cash strapped government to fund its activities.

But the increment prompted an outcry from humanitarian agencies who described it as way of restricting work of foreign aid workers in the war-torn nation, forcing the government to suspend the policy the following month.

In November 2017, the Labor Ministry announced revised work permit fees of 4,000 dollars for consultants and managers, professionals were charged 3,000 dollars, while technicians and casual workers will pay 2,000 and 1,000 respectively.

Gatkuoth said that under the new policy, all categories of the work permit fee will be halved, adding that the changes will be effected once the proposal is approved by the cabinet.

"We have realized there is a lot of alarm. There is economic pressure; there is political pressure. So we are reviewing it. I have already tabled before the council of ministers the reduction of work permits by 50 percent of every category," Gatkuoth said.

South Sudan depends on oil revenue for 98 percent of its budget, but civil war has distracted production since 2013, forcing most oilfields in the country's northern Upper Nile region to shut down as production fell to below 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 350,000 bpd.

The low oil output has also caused severe shortage of foreign reserves and hyperinflation in the import-dependent country.