March 31, 2011
Juba, South Sudan – Many goods sold in South Sudan, from food products to building materials, are imported from our neighbors. The costs of these goods are always higher in South Sudan than in Uganda, Kenya, and North Sudan. These inflated prices, often higher because illegal duties and taxes are collected during their transport, hurt the people of South Sudan, and the Government is intent on rectifying this situation.
As part of H.E. the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning’s commitment to reducing the cost of doing business in South Sudan, and of bringing goods into the country, the Minister has established an Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Task Force. This Task Force comprises of representatives from GoSS and State governments. Their task is to produce a set of recommendations for the Government to implement and improve the system of revenue collection. They met at the beginning of March and made good progress. They are currently meeting again to refine their recommendations.
The overall objective of the Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations Task Force is to help South Sudan to establish a revenue system that reduces our dependence on volatile oil revenue, but without hurting economic activity. “It is important that we grasp the opportunity of this transition period to define a non-oil revenue system that supports long-term government expenditure, whilst minimizing disruption to economic activity”, said H.E. the Minister of Finance in his budget speech to the Legislative Assembly.
In particular the Task Force will be advising on how to harmonize tax collection between GoSS and the States, and how to move away from the current system of revenue collection at security checkpoints.
CONTACT: Abraham Akoi, Policy and Management Officer, Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning
E-mail. aakoi3@gmail.com
Phone: 0955583217