[EA] The figure is about 24 per cent rise from last year’s $274.6 million budget.
Finance minister Abdurahman Duale Bayle Monday stated that the ministerial council chaired by Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre unanimously endorsed the budget.
Dr Bayle indicated that most of the budget would be financed through local tax collection.
Two decades
“I pay my gratitude to the Somali people, helping the government’s tax collection in order to achieve self sufficiency,” said the minister, a former economist with the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The government expects $189.9m (55.8%) from internal sources, while it anticipates $124.6m (44.2%) from the donor community.
The endorsed budget will have to pass through the bicameral parliament.
Somalia has experienced civil strife for over two decades, following the fall of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.
A frail UN-backed government is fighting the al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabab Islamist insurgency, which has hampered Mogadishu’s ability to control its national security.
By: ABDULKADIR KHALIF
Somali cabinet approves $340m budget
Published: October 31, 2018
