Madam Chair,

1. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China on the financial performance report for the budget period 2024.

2. The Group wishes to thank Mr. Chandru Ramanathan, Assistant Secretary-General and Controller, and Ms. Juliana Gaspar Ruase, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), for introducing their respective reports.

3. The Group of 77 and China attaches great importance to this agenda item. Assessing the performance of the programme budget during the previous year is not only relevant for credit calculation. It is an important opportunity for the Committee to ensure that mandates are implemented in an effective and efficient manner and that the General Assembly's budgetary decisions are being adhered to. It is of little service to focus our attention on negotiating resources for the following year if we neglect to look back and assess which areas require further attention.

Madam Chair,

4. The Group regrets that, once again, because of the unpredictability in the pattern of collections, hiring and spending restrictions have been imposed, as from July and September 2024 respectively. The Group reiterates that mandate delivery must be the driver of budget implementation. We are deeply concerned that cash availability has repeatedly become a dominant factor potentially hindering mandate delivery.

5. The Group takes note of the Secretary-General's proposal for a temporary suspension of the return of credit of 2024, meaning that the indicated returnable amount of USD 298.94 million would be placed, after apportionment to Member States, in a reserve that would be used in the event that collections are insufficient to enable the implementation of mandates in 2026.

6. The Group stresses, however, that the most fundamental and effective answer to the recurrent liquidity problems of the Organization depends on Member States fulfilling their obligations to pay their assessed contributions in full, on time and without conditions. We welcome the efforts from those Member States which have been making consistent efforts to reduce their arrears and to provide more predictability to the Secretariat on their payments. We also emphatically recall that one single Member State, which is also the only beneficiary of the maximum ceiling in the scale of assessments, continues to be responsible for more than half of the unpaid assessed contributions to the regular budget. The proposed temporary suspension for the return of credit is not a fundamental way of solving this problem.

7. The Group of 77 and China concurs with the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) that the practice of treating the initial appropriation as the "final budget" under the annual budget cycle departs from established practice and risks undermining the prerogatives of the General Assembly. The Group emphasizes that the authority to determine and approve the final level of appropriations rests exclusively with the Assembly, in accordance with the Financial Regulations and Rules. In this regard, the Group supports the Committee's recommendation that the Secretary-General present corrective measures in the next performance report to ensure full compliance with established budgetary procedures.

Madam Chair,

8. The Group of 77 and China highlights the need to gain a deeper understanding of the functioning and review of the cost-recovery fund, a matter on which the Group has consistently raised questions over the past years. The Group notes that revenues of the cost-recovery fund amounted to nearly 320 million dollars in 2024, with a modest surplus of 3.3 million dollars recorded. In view of the continuing liquidity challenges faced by the Organization, the Group considers it timely to focus on this account in particular, and requests the Secretariat to present concrete options on how surplus funds generated through cost-recovery could be utilized to alleviate the liquidity crisis, while ensuring transparency, accountability, and full compliance with the guidelines established by the General Assembly.

9. We also identify a need to pursue discussions on other relevant topics raised by the Advisory Committee, including transfers between sections and forward purchasing of currencies.

10. In conclusion, the Group is ready to engage constructively, with a view to achieving a successful outcome on this important agenda item.

I thank you.