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2018 Budget Draft Budget Presented at 1.93 Trillion Birr

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The federal government’s 2018 budget draft budget has been presented at 1.93 trillion birr.

Finance Minister Ahmed Shide presented the draft budget to the House of People’s Representatives and is currently under discussion.

Of the 2018 draft budget, 1.2 trillion birr will be used for recurrent expenditure, 415 billion birr for capital expenditure, 315 billion birr for support to regional governments, and 14 billion birr for support to regions to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

Finance Minister Ahmed Shide said that 1 trillion birr or 73 percent of the draft budget is planned to be obtained from tax revenue, 236 billion birr from development partners, and the rest from project support and miscellaneous revenues.

The Finance Minister also noted that the draft budget has a gross budget deficit of 2.2 percent and a net budget deficit of 1 percent of the gross domestic product.

He stated that the government will cover the budget deficit not by borrowing directly from the National Bank but by selling treasury bills.

He also said that attention has been paid to covering government expenditure with national income by following a strict monetary and budgetary policy.

He also explained that this will help stabilize inflation and implement effective budget utilization.

The Minister also explained that the 2018 draft budget has been prepared in a manner that takes into account comprehensive macroeconomic reforms and the 10-year master development plan.

The Minister also stated that an economic growth of 8.9 percent is expected in the 2018 budget year.

By Getaha Balcha