Over 550 Billion Birr Additional Budget to be Approved by Ethiopia’s Parliament

Addis Ababa: Ethiopia's Ministry of Finance has announced preparations to present an additional budget of over 550 billion Birr to be approved by the House of People's Representatives for the 2024-25 fiscal year.Recall that the House of People's Representatives has approved 971.2 billion Birr budget for the 2024/25 fiscal year last month. The budget has an increment of 21.1 percent from the previous year's federal budget.Of the initial 971.2 billion Birr budget, 451.3 billion Birr was allocated for recurrent expenditures, while 283.2 billion Birr was set aside for capital expenditures.State Minister of Finance, Eyob Tekalign explained that the implementation of the macroeconomic policy reforms aims to lay the foundation for building a sustainable and reliable economy.He also noted that various financial sources have been providing support following the implementation of these policy reforms.Consequently, the Ministry of Finance has been preparing an additional budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, on top of the previously announced federal government budget.The supplementary budget prepared for approval by the House of People's Representatives exceeds 550 billion Birr, of which 240 billion Birr is earmarked for social development.The State Minister clarified that as the government fully implements its macroeconomic policy, it is taking into consideration of low-income citizens.He emphasized that this additional budget will play a crucial role in providing adequate subsidies for citizens with regular income and those supported by developmental safety net programs.The supplementary budget will be used for subsidies on oil, fuel, and medicine, helping to preemptively address potential risks that may arise during the policy implementation period.Furthermore, efforts to cover national expenses through domestic revenue will be strengthened, with the policy implementation playing a vital role in increasing revenue capacity.The State Minister concluded by stating that the revenue generated by the econ omy will be properly collected and allocated to various development projects.Source : Ethiopian News Agency