South Sudan leader dismisses finance minister

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has sacked Finance Minister Salvatore Garang Mabiordit and replaced him with Diing Athian.

No reason was given for the changes.

Civil servants have been complaining about the non-payment of salaries for months now.

The outgoing finance minister was appointed in March 2018 to "revive the country’s economy".

He was recently quoted by local media as saying that there was no money for salaries because the ministry only gets revenue from the sale of oil - which had dropped.

In a separate decree, President Kiir sacked the acting head of the revenue authority Erjok Bullen Geu and replaced him with Africano Monday.

President Kiir also sacked the Nile Petroleum Corporation chief Chol Deng Abel and replaced him with Bol Ring Marwel.

There were no reasons for the dismissal of the two officials as well.

South Sudan’s ailing economy, which relies heavily on oil, has been hit by a drop in oil prices in the global market due to the Covid-19 pandemic.