United Nations, Feb 2 (IANS) India has paid its annual dues of $32.895 million to the UN’s general budget, according to Stephane Dujarric, the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
At his daily briefing on Thursday, he thanked New Delhi for the contribution which earned it a place on UN’s “honour roll”.
India is one of the only 36 countries among the UN’s 193 members to have paid its annual assessment for the UN’s general budget by the deadline on Wednesday, according to the UN General Assembly’s Committee on Contributions.
New Delhi’s total assessment for the general budget is $36.18 million but it is given a credit of $3.85 million, which is the credit from staff assessments — deductions made from the salaries of UN employees who are Indian nationals in lieu of income taxes, and credited to India.
India’s contribution makes up 1.044 per cent of the total regular budget of the UN of the UN’s budget of $3.59 billion.
The national contributions are calculated by a complex formula that is based on the size of the gross national income and offset by considerations of its “capacity to pay” based on low per capita income and external debt.
Because of the formula, India’s assessment is only 1.044 per cent of the UN’s budget of $3.465 billion despite it being the world’s fifth largest economy.
Thus, India’s share is less than that of even some developing countries like Brazil and Mexico.
The US is the biggest contributor to the UN’s regular budget, with an assessment of $762.43 million — 22 per cent of the total — followed by China, whose assessment is 15.25 per cent or $528.64 million.
The UN has separate budgets for capital works, tribunals and peacekeeping.
(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
