UN alters budget rules to ease cash crunch, blocking refund claims from debtor states
The four-year trial will return unspent funds only when cash is available, as UN arrears exceed $6.5 billion, officials said.
- On Tuesday, the General Assembly voted to modernize an outdated 75-year-old financial rule, allowing the Organization to retain unspent funds backed by cash and avert imminent financial collapse.
- Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the reform as critical for operational continuity, as overall arrears across the regular budget, peacekeeping, and international tribunals exceed $6.5 billion.
- Major donors Washington and Beijing have yet to pay full 2026 contributions, with the Trump administration owing roughly $2 billion and China owing about $430 million for the regular budget.
- Controller Chandramouli Ramanathan told reporters yesterday that the Organization lacks cash beyond August, forcing the UN to scrounge funds to host the upcoming High-Level Week.
- General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock stated the resolution sends a broader message that Member States can take decisive action; the four-year trial period provides breathing room for the next Secretary-General.
13 Articles
13 Articles
For years, the United States and China have not paid as much as they had to pay: to avoid financial collapse, some rules have been changed.
Malay Mail
AlKhaleej TodayUN alters budget rules to ease cash crunch, blocking refund claims from debtor states
NEW YORK, July 1 — The UN General Assembly yesterday made a new rule to bar member states from demanding return of unspent funds before paying their contributions to the financially troubled organisation.“Since very early in my mandate, I have called for this change, and I am grateful to Member States for taking this important step,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement, calling the change critical for “immediate operational co…
On Tuesday, the UN General Assembly amended a defied budget rule that allowed Member States not paying their contributions to recover unspent money, a "critical" reform welcomed by the organisation's Secretary-General in financial crisis.
The UN will face a crisis in September unless the US and China pay their contributions, but even if they do, funds will run out by the end of 2026.
'We've Prevented a Crash,' Says UN Controller About the Organization's Cash Woes
Chandramouli Ramanathan, the UN’s controller, told reporters on July 1, 2026, that the organization has averted a “crash” related to its financial situation by temporarily overhauling a decades-old, burdensome fiscal rule. LOEY FELIPE/UN PHOTO The United Nations General Assembly has overhauled a decades-old rule that has forced the world body to return cash it never actually collects to all member states in a practice that has worsened the organ…
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