JUBA — South Sudan’s Ministry of Finance and Planning on Thursday directed commercial banks to reduce charges on bank deposits and withdrawals to ease transactions.
Arop Nuoi Arop, the First Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance and Planning, stated that reducing charges on customer accounts will alleviate their financial burden.
“The Bank of South Sudan is to steadfastly redress the challenges of high tariffs and charges for opening salary accounts, withdrawals, and deposits for commercial banks and ATM/merchant outlets,” Arop said in a circular released on Wednesday.
Arop said the ministry also directed all public sector employees to open personal bank accounts to fast-track payment of salaries.
“All civil servants are to immediately open personal salary accounts with commercial banks to ease timely processing and payment,” he said.
“All accounting officers and respective directors general are to ensure compliance of all civil servants for opening of personal salary accounts as immediately as possible.”
He reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to timely processing and payment of salaries.
“We would like to request all accounting officers to urgently recommit to implementation of all policy measures being undertaken to ensure timely processing and payment of salaries,” he said.
He said they directed all accounting officers and directors general to fast-track and finalize the opening of salary accounts for all civil servants and submit account details to them.
“Therefore, the salaries shall not be processed and disbursed into accounts of spending agencies that have failed to provide consolidated personal accounts data to the Bank of South Sudan and the Ministry of Finance and Planning.”
He hailed the Bank of South Sudan for integrating mobile money into the banking system to ease transactions.
“The Bank of South Sudan has recognized mobile money as a valid and legal tender instrumentally legalizing it as a payment method for all transactions by consumers or clients for all goods and services,” he said.
He said the Ministry is collaborating with the Bank of South Sudan to implement policy measures aimed at ensuring timely salary payments through the digital transformation of the national system.
