U.N. member states owe world body $3.5 billion

As reported in 'The Japan News' : The Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. member states owe the world body about $3.5 billion for its regular operating budget and far-flung peacekeeping operations, the U.N. management chief said Thursday. Yukio Takasu told reporters after briefing the General Assembly’s budget committee that “as a whole the financial situation of the United Nations is very sound and generally good except the regular budget.” The funding gap for the regular budget is just over $950 million including about $800 million owed by the United States, $77 million by Brazil and $28 million by Venezuela, he said. The General Assembly approved a two-year budget of $5.53 billion in late December to cover the United Nations’ regular operations in 2014-15, cutting it for a second successive time. Takasu said the U.N. only has $35 million in cash for the regular budget, which is “a bit alarming.” It has two reserve funds totaling about $384 million that it can dip into, but the total of $419 million is low, he said. “The regular budget is very tight and we have to watch very carefully,” Takasu said. “We have very small reserves so (the) financial health of the organization totally depends on how quickly and how much member states can pay to us.” Member states also owe about $2.6 billion to the separate U.N. peacekeeping budget, Takasu said. France owes the most — $356 million — followed by the United States which must pay $337 million and Italy around $250 million, he said.Speech