Face of Nation : India has paid all its dues to the United Nations, top diplomat Syed Akbaruddin said on Friday, adding that only 35 of 193 member countries have paid their dues.
In a tweet, Mr Akbaruddin, who is India’s permanent representative in the United Nations, shared the list of 35 countries that have paid the dues. “All paid. Only 35 States of 193 have paid all dues to @UN as of today….” he wrote. On Tuesday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of the “worst cash crisis facing the United Nations in nearly a decade.”
The UN announced a $1.4 billion shortfall on its operating budget this year, blaming the funding gap on around 60 states that had been late paying their dues. Of those, just seven countries made up 90 percent of the deficit: the United States, whose outstanding payments top a billion dollars, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Iran, Israel and Venezuela.
The UN “runs the risk of depleting its liquidity reserves by the end of the month and defaulting on payments to staff and vendors,” he warned. In a letter sent on Monday to the 37,000 employees at the UN secretariat, Mr Guterres said the UN had a deficit of $230 million as of the end of September, news agency AFP reported.
US President Donald Trump, however, dismissed concerns that the UN is on the verge of going broke because members have not paid their dues. “So make all Member Countries pay, not just the United States!” Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday. The UN budgetary rules do not include any penalty or interest on late payments.
