Washington: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutarais has said that the international body is struggling with shortage of funds. He said that United Nations is short of $ 230 million in cash and the money held by it till the end of October is expected to be completely exhausted. In a letter to 37,000 employees working at the United Nations Secretariat, Gutares said Monday that additional steps would be taken to reduce expenses to pay salaries and other allowances to employees.
Further wrote to Gutarais that "Member countries have paid only 70 per cent of our regular budget required for 2019. Due to this, the body has lost $ 230 million in cash in September. We are at risk of exhausting the cash reserves already in place by the end of this month. ”Gutarais noted conferences, postponement of meetings and cuts in services to reduce spending. At the same time, he has also mentioned the official visit and steps to save energy only for necessary work.
According to a UN official, the Secretary-General had asked member countries earlier this year to increase the contribution amount to alleviate the cash troubles of the global body, but the member countries refused. Gutares said that, "Member countries are ultimately responsible for the economic situation of the United Nations." The United Nations budget for 2018-19 was about $ 5.4 billion. America's contribution in this was 22 percent. It does not include the expenses incurred for peace related work.
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