(JUBA) – The Bank of South Sudan has revised its earlier position following public concern over a statement made by its Governor suggesting an urgent plan to print more currency to address the country’s current liquidity shortage. The clarification comes followingg growing concern over the government’s ability to pay salaries and meet basic financial obligations.
On Tuesday, 22 July 2025, Eye Radio published a report quoting the Central Bank Governor, Dr Addis Ababa Othow, saying there was an “urgent need” to print money to meet high liquidity demands. His remarks were made during a presentation to the Transitional National Legislative Assembly and were aired by the state broadcaster, SSBC, on Monday, 21 July.
In the audio clips aired by SSBC, Dr Othow said the bank had identified a short term need to print currency to deal with the liquidity crisis but added that more sustainable long-term solutions were being developed. He said a committee, chaired by the bank’s First Deputy Governor, had already been formed to manage the issue of cash shortages more systematically under what he referred to as a “national payment strategy.”
However, on Wednesday, 23 July, the Central Bank’s Director of Communications and Public Relations, Majok Nikodemo Arou, issued a statement disputing the interpretation that the bank was printing money specifically to cover civil servant salary payments.
He said such action would be outside the bank’s legal mandate. According to Arou, the Bank of South Sudan Act (2011, amended in 2023) does not allow the printing of currency to fund government expenditure such as salaries. Instead, he explained that any government budget shortfalls are meant to be addressed through borrowing, in line with sections 64 to 69 of the Act, which regulate the bank’s transactions with the government.
“There is no provision in the Bank of South Sudan Act that allows the institution to print money in order to pay civil servants,” Arou emphasised.
This clarification comes in the middle of broader financial stress in South Sudan’s public sector. In June, the Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr Marial Dongrin, admitted that the government had been paying salaries without cash due to an ongoing liquidity crisis. He made the remarks during the swearing-in ceremony of Dr Othow and his deputy, Samuel Yanga Mikaya.
