S Sudan suspends hiked work permit fees for foreigners

SOUTH Sudan said at the weekend that it had suspended implementation of the recently-hiked work permit fees for foreign workers and abandoned a planned increase of aviation fees.

Finance Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau said the suspension would allow the government to review the country’s financial laws and come up with a moderate fee.

He said the proposed work permit fees for foreign workers would not go beyond $5 000 (R66 600).

“What we are doing should be consistent with the region. So we should not be seen collecting less or imposing higher.”

The government would also consider reducing taxes on pharmaceutical products from the current 5% to 2% and agricultural inputs from 10% to 5%.

This is in a bid to reduce prices of medicine and food.

Last month, South Sudan increased work permit fees for foreign workers from $400 to $10 000 for professional/business class jobs, blue-collar jobs to $2 000 and for casual labourers to $1 000 as a measure to fight economic crisis.

But the increase prompted an outcry from humanitarian agencies, who described it as a way of restricting foreign aid workers in the war-torn nation.

South Sudan depends on oil revenue for 98% of its budget, but civil conflicts since 2013 have caused most oilfields in the country’s northern Upper Nile region to shut down as production fell to below 130000 barrels per day (bpd) from 350 000 bpd.

The east African nation is currently struggling with hyperinflation amid a shortage of foreign reserves to support imports. – Xinhua