South Sudan seeks $500 million loan for salaries, infrastructure

South Sudan says it intends to borrow more than $500 million from the Afri-Exim Bank to pay salaries for public servants and fund infrastructure projects.

The Minister of Information and government spokesperson, Mr Michael Makuei Lueth, said the cash would also be used to bolster agriculture and facilitate the peace process.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting in Juba on June 14, 2019, he said South Sudan will repay the loan within four years.

South Sudan became an independent nation in 2011, following a referendum that favoured its separation from Sudan.

It has struggled for revenue after renewed fighting erupted in 2013 before the Sudan uprising disrupted oil sales with civil servants going for as many as four months without salaries.

More than 7.1 million South Sudanese also face famine, the United Nations reported last week.