United Nations may run out of money by end of the month: Guterres

United Nations is running a deficit of USD 230 million, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said and may run out of money by end of October.

In a letter intended for 37,000 employees at UN secretariat and obtained by AFP, Guterres said on Monday unspecified "ditional stop-gap measures" would have to be taken to ensure salaries and entitlements are paid.

"Member States have paid only 70 per cent of total amount needed for our regular budget operations in 2019. This translates into a cash short of USD 230 million at end of September. We run risk of depleting our backup liquidity reserves by end of month," he wrote.

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Guterres' cost-cutting measures

To cut costs, Guterres mentioned postponing conferences and meetings and reducing services, while also restricting official travel to only essential activities and taking measures to save energy.

Guterres h asked member states earlier this year to up contributions to world body to he off cash flow problems, but y refused, a UN official said on condition of anymity.

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" ultimate responsibility for our financial health lies with Member States," Guterres said.

t including what it pays for peacekeeping operations, UN's operating budget for 2018-2019 is close to USD 5.4 billion, with United States contributing 22 per cent.

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