The Parliament of Ethiopia this morning approved a total budget of 561.7 billion Birr (about $13 billion at current exchange rate) for the next Ethiopian fiscal year (2020/21, which begins July 8, 2021).
In terms of the amount of Ethiopian Birr the new budget approved today has increased by 18 percent from the previous year. Meanwhile, in terms of U.S. dollar, the amount has decreased by close to one billion U.S. Dollars as a result of continuous devaluation of Ethiopian Birr. Last total budget of Ethiopia was 476 billion Birr (about $13.9 at the last year exchange rate).
The value of Ethiopian Birr against U.S. Dollars has been rapidly declining over the past twelve months from 33.7 Birr for one U.S. dollar a year ago, to 43.3 Birr for one U.S. Dollar today. That means the buying power of Ethiopian Birr has declined by 18 percent in June 2021 from it was in June 2020.
Out of the 561.7 billion Birr budget, 423 Billion Birr is expected from domestic sources, while the remaining budget deficit, which about 2.8 percent of the GDP of the country, is expected to be filled from domestic and foreign lending, according to the Finance Minister Ahmed Shide, who presented the draft report to the MPs this morning.