Ethiopia has managed to collect a total of $ 5.5 billion in revenue from local sources during the past ten months, said the country’s Ministry of Revenues.
Presenting his office’s ten-month performance report to the House of People’s Representatives (parliament) on Wednesday, minister of revenues, Ahmed Shide said the revenue represented 68 percent of the target $8.1 billion the nation had planned to earn during the stated period.
The Minister briefed the Parliamentarians (MPs) about the tax reforms carried out to increase the amount the country earns in revenues from local sources contributed to the better revenue.
According to him, the newly introduced reforms are expected to generate up to $1 billion additional income.
Export trade in the reported period earned the nation more than $2.1 billion, a $187.1 million or 8.2% decrease compared to the preceding year, the Minister noted.
Regarding direct budgetary support, Ethiopia surpassed its target by securing $1.1billion. The plan was to earn over $665 million, Ahmed said.
The total net revenue of the federal Government stood at a bit higher tha $6 billion, while the total spending was $8.6 billion. The $2.6 billion budget deficit was financed by local and external loans, the Minister said.
Ethiopia’s external debt has reached $27 billion , while the total local debt is hitting $25 billion, according to the Minister.
MG/abj/APA