South Sudan’s cabinet wants to almost triple its spending in the next budget as it seeks to stabilize the fledging nation that has been rocked by violence, Reuters news agency reports.
With the world’s youngest nation’s main source of income, oil, heavily disrupted, it is unclear how the government will be able to finance such a level of spending.
The cabinet approved a budget proposal for the 2016/17 fiscal year that caps government spending at 29.6 billion South Sudan pounds ($520 million), a 187 percent rise over the year that ended on June 30.
South Sudan has been at war since December 2013 when President Riek Machar accused his then deputy Riek Machar of plotting to overthrow his government.
Machar refuted the claims but went on to mobilize a rebel force to fight the government.
A peace deal was signed a year ago, and Machar returned to the capital in March this year to take up the position of first vice president. This did not however last and forces loyal to the two leader clashed in the capital last month, prompting Machar to flee the capital with his forces.
President Kiir then replaced him with Taban Deng Gai as first vice president, a move that received heavy international criticism.
