JUBA, South Sudan, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- South Sudan was recovering financially from 15 months of lost oil revenue when the recent fighting shut everything down, the finance minister said Saturday.
Agrey Tisa Sabuni said the country will need to borrow more money to cover the new losses, the Wall Street Journal reported. The country already owes $1.6 billion to the oil companies.
"Just as we were getting our feet, the coup makers come and mess things up," Sabuni said.
The fighting between President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar has cost the country about 20 percent of its oil output, Sabuni said. He said the country normally produces 240,000 barrels of oil a day, making it the third largest producer in sub-Saharan Africa.
"The economic impact of the current crisis is definitely quite enormous and very pervasive," Sabuni said.
