Guterres warns UN may run out of money by end of month

The United Nations is running a deficit of $230 million, and may run out of money by the end of October, Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said.

In a letter intended for the 37,000 employees at the UN, Guterres said that unspecified “additional stop-gap measures” would have to be taken to ensure salaries and entitlements are paid, AFP reported.

“Member states have paid only 70% of the total amount needed for our regular budget operations in 2019,” the UN chief wrote in Monday’s letter. “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.”

To cut costs, Guterres mentioned postponing conferences and meetings and reducing services, while also restricting official travel to only essential activities and taking measures to save energy.