South Sudan Borrows $200 Million to operate oil fields

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The Government of South Sudan is reported to have acquired $200 million from oil companies inside its territory as the ongoing civil war continues to cause a crunch on the economy.

In a report by Bloomberg South Sudan also plans to postpone its obligations to settle domestic loans.

Although no details were released on the lenders the South Sudan News agency quoting an anonymous source said a Chinese company was one of the named companies by finance minister Aggrey Tisa Sabuni.

Sabuni says the government’s reliance on oil revenue has been hard hit by the 6 month war terming it a “very highly risky situation”.

“South Sudan borrowed $200 million from oil operators and postponed repayments on domestic loans after the country’s six-month-old conflict cut crude output, the government’s main source of revenue”, South Sudanese Finance Minister Aggrey Tisa Sabuni, was quoted as saying by the Bloomberg.

This comes even as South Sudanese rebels led by the former vice-president Riek Machar rejected a proposal that the United Nations Mission in South Sudan UNMISS protect oil installations.

The Riek Machar led force says the enjoining of UNMISS in the affairs of South Sudan would be making the UN complicit in the 5-month conflict.

The UN security council mid this week adopted resolution 2155 (2014) that extended UNMISS stay in South Sudan even as it condemned attacks on oil infrastructure and their employees urging both sides to protect the country’s only source of revenue.

The Security Council had also enhanced the security of oil installations among the duties of UNMISS.

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