BY NEW BUSINESS ETHIOPIA REPORTER
The House of Peoples’ Representatives of Ethiopia approved close to 118 billion birr (close to 7 billion US dollars at the current exchange rates) national budget for the next fiscal year (from July 8, 2011 – July 7, 2012). The amount is 39 percent higher than the previous fiscal year budget.
Budget for defense will also reach 6.5 billion birr for the 2004 Ethiopian calendar budget year, which is two billion birr higher than the previous year.
Ethiopia’s ambitious five year growth and transformation plan and attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are among the reasons for this year’s budget increment, according to Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Sufian Ahmed, who briefed the parliamentarians yesterday (June 14, 2011).
Government planned to collect around 79 billion birr from domestic tax and non-tax revenue and 21.4 billion from foreign aid. While 6.6 billion birr and 10.6 billion birr is expected to be obtained as loans from abroad and domestic financial sources, respectively.
Of the total budget 48 billion birr (40 percent) will be spent on infrastructure development and other as capital expenditure while recurrent expenditure stood at 23 billion birr. Some 31 billion birr (around 39 percent of the total budget) is also allocated for regional states in the forms of budget subsidy.
The budget document the minister presented also shows that 81 percent of the total capital budget will be invested on roads, education, agriculture, water, rural electricity and health development. MDGs related activities will also get a total 15 billion birr.
