Secretary‑General Antonio Guterres told the Fifth Committee that liquidity at the United Nations remains fragile and appealed to member states to pay assessed contributions in full and on time to avoid disruptions.

Guterres reported that the UN ended 2024 with $760 million in arrears and that $709 million of those 2024 arrears remain outstanding. He also said the Secretariat has not received $1.877 billion of 2025 assessed contributions. The Secretary‑General appealed for timely payment and described a proposed temporary measure to protect cash flows: suspending the return of credits until liquidity improves and placing returned credits in an account that preserves member states’ rights and the ability to return funds when circumstances allow.

"I've repeatedly appealed to member states to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time," Guterres said, and described careful cash‑flow management and a request to temporarily suspend returns of credits to avoid disruptions to programme implementation.

He framed the liquidity challenge as aggravated by an "unacceptable volume of arrears" and said the Secretariat is managing cash flows well below budget levels. The Secretary‑General called for a temporary account‑based solution that would clearly establish member states’ rights to any returns when liquidity permits and underscored that safeguarding liquidity is necessary to avoid interruptions to programme delivery.

The chair thanked the Secretary‑General for his statement; the committee did not record any decision on the proposed temporary measure in this session.