U.S. in Arrears and U.N. May Not Meet Payroll, Perez de Cuellar Says

Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar has warned the U.N. staff that there may be no paydays next month if the United States fails to clear its budget arrears, but there has been little evident belt-tightening in the world body.

In a recent report on U.N. finances, Perez de Cuellar said the world body had received only $437 million of this year’s total of $756 million in assessments.

The largest assessment, 25%, is that of the United States.

Perez de Cuellar’s report said Washington currently owes the United Nations almost $353 million. That figure includes almost $130 million in contributions that Washington withheld last year to back its contention that big payers should have more clout.

No fewer than 78 member states are assessed at only one-hundredth of 1% of the total U.N. budget. Their votes have the same weight as those of the United States and the Soviet Union, except in the Security Council, where there is veto power.

Largely in response to American pressure, the U.N. General Assembly last December adopted budget-writing reforms after which the secretary general froze hiring and instituted other economies, including reduced official travel.