Addis Ababa — Ethiopia's draft budget for the upcoming 2025/ 2026 would play a significant role in ensuring the successful continuity of the comprehensive macroeconomic reforms, Finance Minister Ahmed Shide said today.

Speaking at the 35th regular session of the House People's Representatives, he disclosed that the budget for the 2018 Ethiopian Fiscal Year (EFY) is 1.93 trillion Birr.

According to him, the budget aligned with the country's Ten-Year Perspective Plan (2021-2030) emphasizes continuity with long-term development goals.

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The minster stated that the 1.5 trillion Birr revenue for the 2018 EFY represents a 62 percent growth compared to the total revenue estimated to be collected in the preceding fiscal year.

He further mentioned that preparations have been made to integrally implement the planned reforms in tax policy and tax administration to achieve the targeted tax revenue.

Out of the total draft budget, 61 percent is allocated to recurrent expenditures --- a 48.1 percent growth compared to the recurrent budget allocated in the current fiscal year.

On the other hand, the 415 billion Birr allocated for capital budget constitutes 22 percent of the total budget, which is an increase of 72 billion Birr compared to that of 2017 EFY.

Ahmed further stated that the budget for the year also shows an increase compared to the previous fiscal year, noting that this increase is mostly attributed to the rising expenditure associated with implementing the reforms.

The budget has a crucial role in successfully continuing the comprehensive macroeconomic reforms, he stressed.

The minister urged institutions to utilize their allocated budgets for the intended purposes, and to do so economically and effectively.

Finally, he called upon all relevant bodies to do everything necessary to ensure the successful utilization of the budget.