South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Emmanuel Monychol
When things look difficult, it is in fact the best time to give that patience for the minister of finance and the central bank governor to negotiate the country out of the problem of inflation, stabilizing market, increasing the low non-oil revenue turnout, etc. apart from misleading social media noise, it appears many South Sudanese either do not have that patience. Perhaps the lobbying groups may be using the arising issues, like the rise in value of the US Dollar to scapegoat officials so that they are removed from office and replaced by their own group leaders. This is a system that has made South Sudan fail to resolve its mirages of problems, decreeing officials in and out of office through influence from people operating like rent-seekers.
Therefore, to those who are calling for the immediate removal of the minister of finance, will a change of ministers in the ministry of finance and economic planning bring about the desired economic reforms we need – reforms like the ones outlined in the Sept-2023 national economic conference? Or should we really support the incumbent to push for the reforms that were agreed upon at the September 2023 national economic conference?
I have observed over the past few months that the misleading social media outcry (misleading because rent seekers are taking advantage of the US Dollar crisis to pain a negative image of the minister, as a lazy non-creative individual who cannot stir the economy out of trouble – forgetting that issues to do with the economy are more pragmatic than theoretical). So far, this has worked to reduce public opinion, especially as the dollar value rises above the South Sudan Pound. As usual, the lobbyists have been using the dollar rate in the market to measure the performance of the minister, tip off their social media message conveyors to portray the incumbent minister as failing. Several ministers came and went or were fired because of the rise of the value of the dollar against the South Sudan Pound. This dollar rise tact should stop, and instead we should in all honesty work out the means to implement the economic conference resolutions that were passed last year. Dr. Bak should push for the needed reforms that were outlined in the national economic conference that was organized in September 2023, because, during the national economic conference, it was unanimously recognized by the leadership and economists that the country has been badly affected by the wars and the Covid-19 pandemic and in order to promote the “economic recovery” and our “resilience” several economic reforms were to be undertaken.
As usual, instead of asking the leadership of the ministry of finance to speed up the recovery plans, or to question how far they have gone with the implementation of the recovery plans, lobbyists are in a rush, using misleading social media outcry to demand dismissals. Unless we work to recover our economy and put it on the right path, there is no amount of change in the ministry of finance that will bring the desired plan. You will recall that several ministers like Deng Athorbei, Dier Tong, Stephen Dhieu, Aggrey Tisa Sabuni, Agak Accuil, Garang Mabior were either recycled or dismissed in the hope that the new minister will bring the desired success in recovering our economy. But this has all ended in tears. So, the trick this time should be to go for the economic transformation agenda, using the current workforce as a tool. Dr. Bak appears to have the courage to implement the recovery plans; already the man has taken steps into adjusting means of collecting the non-oil revenue, and we are realizing a positive outcome in the non-oil revenue sector.
The recovery agenda is also in line with the international calls to stabilize our economy. That is why this approach to reform our economy took into consideration the role of international financial institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. A reminder of the key reforms needed in the country which the financial institutions like the ministry of finance must prioritize and be assisted to develop comprehensively is revenue collection in the nonoil revenue sector. This month, the minister of finance, Dr. Bak Barnaba Chol issued an order operationalizing a mandatory Electronic Cargo Tracking Note (ECTN) and this will be implemented by the South Sudan Revenue Authority, the body mandated to collect taxes in the nonoil revenue sector. The Electronic Cargo Tracking Note will be mandatory for every good that enters the country and as well those exported from the country. This is a huge step introduced in the economic reforms and it is bound to maximize collection in the nonoil revenue sector through limiting the challenges including underestimation, undervaluation and diversion of cargo as well as round tripping.
Reforms come slow and tedious and needs much patience from everyone including the appointing authorities so that programs under those reforms come to fruition.
During the conference in September, it was acknowledged the need for diversification of the revenue sources and in recognizing the challenges faced in tax revenue collection, the government was therefore urged to harmonize multiple taxes and to streamline role of tax collection authorities to avoid duplication of roles and provide the needed oversight in the tax revenue collection.
This is just where the Minister of Finance, in his order on the Electronic Cargo Tracking Note has underscored a huge reform. Elimination of the many different taxes at the border points or along the roads in South Sudan will eliminate huge losses in the revenue collection and bring better harmony in the system.
Along with that, the expansion of the taxation base and tax compliance across all government, business and public institutions must be instilled. As stated, the government, through the Ministry of Finance must now work with the Bank of South Sudan so that the mother lender can be enhanced to invest in Bank of International Settlement (BIS) to enable international banking payment system which support the indigenous private sector to involve in import and export that could enhance increase in tax collection through customs duty charges and internal trading and business profit taxes.
Getting solutions to issues is slow, tedious but with a lot of patience, it’s very achievable. Giving time to the office bearers in the institutions will help them to proactively work on the plans they have to resolve tasks spread before them. Instead of threatening the office holders with dismissals, which will stifle their morale and creativity, the office bearers should be encouraged to pursue an agenda for which they were appointed.
