With oil sales tied up, South Sudan battles to pay salaries

By DENG MACHOL
Associated Press

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Many of South Sudan’s civil servants have not been paid for months as the government has run out of funds, because the income from oil exports is allocated to servicing loans until 2027. Finance Minister Agak Achuil that government employees demanding salary arrears include members of the security forces, doctors and nurses. He said the reason why the government is not paying the arrears is that the oil money is paying off loans and paying for other priorities. He said the government will allocate oil sales for 2028 and beyond in order to pay salaries for this year. The finance ministry recently paid the November and December salaries.