Running a deficit of $230 million or ₹1,630 crore, the United Nations may run out of money by the end of October, reports NDTV.
Addressing the 37,000 employees at the UN secretariat through a letter, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the world body may not be left with backup reserves by the end of this month.
He further told his employees that the ultimate responsibility for the United Nations’ financial health lies with member states.
He wrote:
Member States have paid only 70 per cent of the total amount needed for our regular budget operations in 2019. This translates into a cash shortage of $230 million at the end of September. We run the risk of depleting our backup liquidity reserves by the end of the month.
The UN’s operating budget for the year 2018-2019 is close to $5.4 billion without including what it pays for peacekeeping operations.
To cut costs, Guterres mentioned postponing conferences and meetings and reducing services.
He also mentioned restricting official travel to only essential activities and talked about adopting measures to save energy.