On this day, 28 years ago, May 27, 1997 (April 21, 1997, the United Nations budget experienced negative growth for the first time. The Secretary-General of the United Nations submitted a budget report for 1998 to 1999 to the General Assembly today. The report proposed that the United Nations budget for the next two years be US$2.4793 billion, a decrease of US$124 million from the 1996 - 1997 budget, thus causing the United Nations budget to experience negative growth for the first time. The number of personnel for the next two years will be 8839, a decrease of 1182 from 1996 to the end of 1997. Connor, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Administrative and Budgetary Affairs, explained the budget report at a regular press conference today. He emphasized that this budget did not include the financial changes involved in the current institutional reform of the United Nations. He expected that the reform package introduced in July would make the current budget smaller than expected and more personnel would be cut. The budget will be revised and supplemented at that time.