The United States is seeking a US$250 million cut to the core budget of the United Nations for 2018-2019, on top of US$200 million in savings already proposed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, diplomats said yesterday.
The budget is under negotiations in a General Assembly committee which is expected to adopt it before the end of December.
Guterres has proposed capping the UN biennial budget at US$5.4 billion, shaving off US$200 million from the 2016-2017 budget.
Two diplomats told AFP news agency that the United States had put forward a proposal for an additional US$250 million reduction – a five per cent cut that another diplomat said would be nearly impossible to achieve.
The United States is the UN’s number one financial contributor, providing 22 per cent of the core budget.
Diplomats said the proposed US budget cuts could target political missions in Libya and Afghanistan as well as the office for Palestinian rights and communication services.
