War-ravaged South Sudan is considering scrapping state subsidies on oil because it hasn't been able to pay civil servants for four months and diplomatic staff abroad are being evicted over unpaid rent, the deputy finance minister said. The government depends on oil revenues, but attacks have slashed production to less than a third of pre-war levels. "We were thinking that we would lift subsidies on the oil and will be able to cover this (deficit) and pay our salaries more easily," said Thiik. South Sudan's conflict began in 2013 after President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy, Riek Machar, a Nuer. More than half of those who remain in South Sudan need food aid and nearly three-quarters of children are out of school.

Source: The Star September 12, 2017 15:00 UTC