Ethiopia’s cabinet has approved a record 2.34 trillion birr (nearly $14.5 billion) budget for the 2026/27 financial year starting on July 8, 2026, showing a significant increase compared to the 1.93 trillion birr budget of last year.
The 2,339,268,126,738 birr proposed budget proclamation was unanimously approved on Tuesday by the council and forwarded to the House of People’s Representatives, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the council of ministers.
The newly proposed budget significantly increases the government’s spending requirements, showing an increase of nearly 400 billion Birr (about 21.2 percent) compared to the 1.93 trillion Birr budget approved and implemented for the current 2025/26 fiscal year.
According to a statement issued by the council, the draft budget for the 2019 fiscal year was prepared based on the recently approved Medium-Term (2019-2023) Macroeconomic and Fiscal Framework.
The government stated that this framework is based on the structural achievements gained from the comprehensive macroeconomic reforms currently being implemented, which are stabilising the economy and strengthening its foundation.
This multi-trillion Birr budget will be specifically allocated to the four main spending sectors of the federal government: regular expenditures, capital expenditures, subsidies to regional governments, and support for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The council noted that the spending requirements of executive institutions were carefully evaluated against their missions, responsibilities, and project execution capacities. Furthermore, the budget is directly linked to the goals and directions of the 2019-2021 Development and Investment Plan, which is part of the country’s Ten-Year Perspective Development Plan.
The draft budget awaits approval by the House of People’s Representatives, the lower chamber of the parliament, which is expected to endorse it before its recession.
MG/as/APA