JUBA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan on Wednesday unveiled a new fiscal framework to tackle economic challenges and steer the nation toward stability and sustainable growth.
Bak Barnaba Chol, minister of finance and planning, said the policy prioritizes economic stabilization and essential spending.
"The framework represents a deliberate program of adjustment, enhancement and rationalization, designed to stabilize the economy, protect livelihoods, and lay the foundation for sustainable and inclusive growth," Chol told journalists in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
The minister said the policy, which reflects collective Cabinet deliberations and inputs from key institutions, including the Bank of South Sudan, the South Sudan Revenue Authority and relevant ministries, came in response to mounting fiscal pressures, high inflation, currency instability and structural imbalances largely driven by over-reliance on oil revenues and limited domestic production.
He said the Cabinet assessed the current economic situation and directed the ministry to move beyond fragmented interventions and adopt a coherent stabilization and reform framework grounded in realism, phased implementation and strong institutional coordination.
Chol said fiscal discipline and expenditure rationalization are central to the policy, with the government planning to prioritize salaries and essential operations, including security, peace implementation and elections, while limiting payments for non-essential claims and contracts.
He said recruitment across government institutions will be temporarily halted, except for clearly justified critical needs.
Chol said the reforms also include institutional and diplomatic rationalization aimed at improving the welfare of South Sudan's diplomatic missions, as well as productive sector enhancement to boost public-private partnerships, support small and medium-sized enterprises and diversify the economy.
"The government is committed not only to policy articulation, but also to disciplined implementation, transparency and accountability," he said, noting that the policy is Cabinet-owned and reflects collective responsibility for steering South Sudan toward economic resilience. ■
