UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned member states that the world body is at risk of “imminent financial collapse” because of unpaid dues and budget rules that require it to return unspent funds, according to a letter seen by The National on Friday.
“The crisis is deepening, threatening programme delivery and risking financial collapse. And the situation will deteriorate further in the near future,” Mr Guterres wrote.
“We have managed difficult periods of unpaid assessed contributions before. But today’s situation is categorically different. Decisions not to honour assessed contributions that finance a significant share of the approved regular budget have now been formally announced.”
The UN is facing an acute cash crunch as its largest contributor, the US, has slashed voluntary funding to UN agencies and refused to make mandatory payments to the organisation’s regular and peacekeeping budgets.
Mr Guterres said unpaid contributions and financial rules requiring the UN to return “unspent” funds were pushing the organisation into what he described as a “Kafkaesque cycle” of giving back money it never received.
The UN ended 2025 with a record $1.56 billion in outstanding dues, more than double the previous year, while collections covered only 76.7 per cent of assessed contributions. Liquidity reserves were nearly exhausted despite significant spending cuts.
A UN official told reporters at UN headquarters that the organisation’s financial crisis has shifted from a problem of late payments to one of outright non-payment, posing a growing threat to its ability to operate.
The UN has historically faced cash shortages when member states delayed paying their assessed contributions. Because it is barred from borrowing from banks, the world body manages liquidity by slowing spending and prioritising essential costs such as staff salaries, which account for about 70 per cent of the regular budget. When funds arrive, operations typically resume.
The official said non-payment is far more dangerous than late payment.
He added that the US owes more than $4.6 billion across several accounts, including $2.196 billion for the regular budget, $1.88 billion for active peacekeeping missions, $528 million for closed missions and $43.6 million for international tribunals.
China, he said, has consistently paid 100 per cent of what it owes, although often late in the year.
Venezuela is the largest debtor after the US to the UN’s regular budget, owing about $38 million in arrears, excluding its latest assessment for 2026, the UN official said.
He added that the Latin American country has lost its General Assembly voting rights and that the UN does not expect the money to be paid due to sanctions and financial constraints.
Mr Guterres urged member states to meet their payment obligations or approve reforms, including limiting the return of credits based on actual collections.
“Either all member states honour their obligations to pay in full and on time – or member states must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse,” he said.
Unless collections improve sharply, he warned, the UN will be unable to fully implement its 2026 budget and could run out of cash by July.
The crisis is expected to worsen in coming years. Under current rules, the United Nations may be forced to return more than $400 million in regular budget credits in 2027 and nearly $900 million in peacekeeping funds in “unspent” amounts to the member states.
Mr Guterres said the financial strain has delayed reimbursements to troop-contributing countries, most of them developing nations, putting peacekeeping operations at risk.
