United Nations officials are struggling to deal with a possible budget default later this year, prompting leadership to implement a sweeping hiring freeze and pauses on spending programs.

The international organization saw a $200 million shortfall last year, but the fallout this year could worsen to $1.1 billion, leaving the United Nations unable to pay staff members. The entity announced $600 million in budget cuts to the current $3.7 billion budget to avoid a default.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that many governments are failing to pay their dues. While they typically send their funds linked to the size of their economies at the start of each year, many countries have been delaying their payments until several months later.

There were only forty-nine countries which paid on time this year, with unpaid dues from last year 60% higher than the sum that the United Nations, which cannot borrow, is able to absorb.

Further uncertainty is added to the situation since President Donald Trump has severed funds to many international organizations, with some Americans pointing to the large extent to which the United States covers costs, as well as controversial infringements on national sovereignty.

Any country which fails to pay annual dues for two years in a row loses the ability to vote in the General Assembly, but not veto power on the Security Council, on which the United States maintains a permanent seat alongside China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom.