South Sudan President Salva Kiir is facing a tough task of reversing the economic downturn that has pushed more eight million people in the country into poverty as oil production, the nation’s chief revenue earner, tumbles due to internal and external factors, including depleted wells, flooding and military conflict in neighbouring Sudan.
Starved of donor funding for lack of political will to implement the 2018 peace agreement, Juba is trying to squeeze resources from an already overburdened oil sector.
South Sudan’s total debt at the end of March 2023 stood at $2.05 billion, of which 77 percent ($1.57 billion) were commercial loans, with bilateral and multilateral creditors contributing $117 million (six percent) and $349.66 million (17 percent) respectively, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.
Its risk of debt distress remains high owing, in large part, to the high debt service costs, and low levels of foreign exchange reserves and fiscal buffers, according to the IMF.
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Source: The East African
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