The United Nations regular budget for 2008-2009 is facing a USD 1.5 billion gap, most of which is caused by nine countries, including the United States, Britain, China and Germany, in arrears, a top official with the world body said on Friday.

Angela Kane, Under-Secretary-General for Management, told a press conference that the countries in arrears – and accounting for more than 90 per cent of the budget gap as of May 7 - are Brazil, China, Germany, Iran, Mexico, Norway, Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The UN Controller's office listed the arrears, as of May 7, as: USD 993 million (US), USD 121 million (UK), USD 104 million (Germany), USD 53 million (South Korea), USD 33 million (China), USD 21 million (Brazil), USD 19 million (Norway), USD 13 million (Iran) and USD 13 million (Mexico).

The remaining outstanding arrears amount to USD 85 million, according to the office.

Kane said as of May 7, 76 countries had paid their regular budget assessment in full, as opposed to 86 countries by the same date last year.

She said she understood that in the present financial and economic climate some "Member States are having a harder time meeting their financial obligations." Last December the UN General Assembly approved an almost 17 per cent increase in the current UN budget for the 2008-2009 period to USD 4.87 billion from USD 4.17 billion, including nearly USD 500 million for six months for peacekeeping operations in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region.

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