Published 15:30 IST, October 10th 2019
UN faces "severe financial crisis", Donald Trump dismisses concerns
UN faces "severe financial crisis", Donald Trump dismisses concerns saying that the UN should make the member countries pay and not just pressurize the US.
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Amidst concerns over "severe financial crisis" in United Nations, US President Donal Trump dismissed the disquiet that has been hovering over the organization as members have not paid their dues, with the United States leading the pack on October 9. On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in a media statement that the world organization won't be able to pay its bills and salaries if debtor nations don't cough up their unpaid dues. He further told the UN budget committee on Tuesday that the organization is facing a "severe financial crisis", outlining a budget of $2.87 billion next year. Though the countries are likely to pay a large portion of the dues by the end of the year, unpaid dues stand at $1.3 billion which is an alarming amount. The UN Secretary-General further said that the financial crisis is deteriorating day by day. He also termed the deficit to be the deepest in the decade. In such a situation, the UN risks exhausting peacekeeping cash reserves and will enter November without enough cash to pay payrolls.
Responding to Guterres' statement, Trump tweeted on Wednesday, "So make all Member Countries pay, not just the United States!"
How much does US owe UN?
Even war-struck Syria is paying its dues yet 129 out of 193 UN nations are still in the line with debts amounting to billions of dollars. Amongst all, the US is both the largest donor and the largest debtor. According to figures provided by the US mission to the UN, the country owes $381 million from prior budgets and $674 million for the regular budget. The States also owe an additional $2.6 billion for active peacekeeping missions. One of the reasons behind such huge debts is the fiscal years of the US and the UN. The United Nations runs its budget on a calendar year while the US fiscal year begins in October.
US and UN's fiscal years cause delay in payment
Responding to the concerns and queries on debt repayment, a US official said to the media the vast majority of the US debt should be paid by the end of November. By now the US has paid 22 per cent of the UN's operating budget and 28 per cent of its peacekeeping budget. A law created in 1999 limits peacekeeping dues to 25 percent, but the cap has frequently been lifted by Congress. US President Donald Trump, on the other hand, has been constantly complaining about how much the US pays. The country has accrued about $750 million in arrears for peacekeeping costs in the last three years, a figure that is expected to approach $1 billion by the middle of next year. It is the US arrears that cause the major chunk of fund deficit in UN peacekeeping missions, and some contractors have been paid late.
Cherith Norman Chalet, the US representative for UN management and reform, said that the United States will make its payments "according to our fiscal year timing and availability of funds" in a statement posted on the mission's website.
12:21 IST, October 10th 2019