South Sudan’s petroleum ministry confirmed on Thursday it requested $2.5 billion in oil-backed loans from two international firms.
The total exceeds the government’s annual budget of under $2 billion and surpasses the $2.2 billion in oil-backed loans received since independence.
The ministry said the requests, sent late last month, are preliminary and aimed solely at official government purposes, not personal enrichment.
An October 27 letter requested $1 billion from ONGC Nile Ganga B.V., a local unit of India’s ONGC Videsh, against crude oil entitlements.
On October 31, a second letter sought $1.5 billion from China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) under identical terms, also confirmed as genuine.
In both cases, the ministry proposed repaying the loans within 54 months after funds are disbursed, asserting transparency in the process.
ONGC Videsh, CNPC, and state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the loan proposals.
The International Monetary Fund has repeatedly warned that oil-backed loans risk worsening South Sudan’s already fragile public debt situation.
The U.N. has long highlighted corruption as a key factor in South Sudan’s cycles of armed conflict, including the 2013-2018 civil war.
Investigators also reported in September that the systematic looting of oil wealth by elites continues to fuel a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished nation.
