full pay<\/a> for two consecutive months.<\/p>\n\u201cFor the last two months, MPs have not been able to withdraw their salaries, which were transferred to commercial banks,\u201d Koryom said. \u201cCivil servants and MPs have their salaries deposited in personal accounts, but difficulties have arisen. Cash limits have dropped from 500,000 to 50,000 South Sudanese pounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that members are forced to queue at banks to withdraw limited amounts \u2014 often 50,000 or 100,000 pounds \u2014 which he said are not sufficient to meet their daily needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to lack of cash, civil servants have to line up in order to deposit or withdraw,\u201d he said, adding that lawmakers are frequently forced to borrow money or seek credit elsewhere. \u201cI am recommending that the Minister of Finance and the governor of the Central Bank be summoned to appear before this August House to clarify why this is taking place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julius Molinka, a lawmaker from Budi County in Eastern Equatoria state representing the ruling SPLM party, suggested the crisis may be the result of internal sabotage and called for both discipline and reform.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the opportunity through the Ministry of Finance and the Bank to do whatever they think is necessary, there must be financial discipline in this country,\u201d Molinka said.<\/p>\n
He urged the national government to change the national currency to flush out money held outside the banking system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you produce a lot of the same currency, the value of the money will go down,\u201d he said. \u201cLet the government take a step to produce new currency. By doing so, the holders of the money will be given seven days to bring their money and exchange it with the new one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will see the mountains of money that will be coming to the bank,\u201d he added. \u201cFrom there, the government will regulate the amount of money in circulation.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Badeng Chan, another SPLM lawmaker representing Jonglei State, echoed these concerns, noting that many citizens prefer keeping money at home due to a lack of trust in the banking system.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost traders, including our own nationals, are keeping their money at home,\u201d he said. \u201cI personally asked some of them, and they said if they keep the money in the banks, they won\u2019t be able to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He supported a currency change as a way to recover idle cash held outside the financial system.<\/p>\n
Betty Acan Ogwaro, also from Eastern Equatoria, said she and her colleagues often queue for hours at banks only to receive 50,000 SSP \u2014 an amount she said is insufficient to meet basic expenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese banks are not making banking attractive. So, people have the right to hold their money,\u201d Ogwaro said. \u201cIn the past, when you put your money in a savings account, they paid interest because they were using your money to trade. Today, the bank takes money from you when you\u2019re withdrawing \u2014 they charge you for keeping your money \u2014 and then they\u2019re gone when you need to make a purchase. This is not acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second Deputy Speaker Parmena Awerial Aluong announced that, based on the lawmakers\u2019 concerns, the Minister of Finance, the Central Bank governor, and the Financial Intelligence Unit will be summoned to appear before the assembly within seven days.<\/p>\n
In July, Dr. Akim Ajieth Buny, an economics lecturer at Dr. John Garang Memorial University, told Radio Tamazuj that introducing a new currency could help reduce hoarding.<\/p>\n
\u201cIntroducing a new currency would force people hoarding money in homes to return it to banks,\u201d he said, adding that printing more money<\/a> would only worsen inflation and weaken the South Sudanese pound (SSP).<\/p>\nDr. Buny also recommended pegging the SSP to the U.S. dollar but cautioned that this would require significant financial reserves.<\/p>\n
\u201cSaudi Arabia fixed its riyal at 3.75 per dollar in 1986, but it had strong reserves,\u201d he said. \u201cSouth Sudan must build reserves through transparent oil revenue management first.\u201d<\/p>\n
The liquidity crunch has highlighted deep vulnerabilities in South Sudan\u2019s economy, which remains heavily dependent on oil revenues and has seen limited progress in economic diversification.<\/p>\n
In June, former finance minister Dr. Marial Dongrin Ater acknowledged the cash shortage but offered no long-term solutions.<\/p>\n
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