The National Bank of Ethiopia is set to lend 10 billion Br for the government to cover part of the 48.6 billion Br supplementary budget approved by the parliament. The supplementary budget, which was approved by lawmakers last week unanimously, is directed to pay for food support to 30 million vulnerable people and procure additional medical equipment and medicine to combat the pandemic. Out of the total, 28.6 billion Br will stem from various grants and loans, whereas the rest of the 10 billion Br will be raised from the sale of treasury bills. In order to address the impact of the pandemic on the fiscal policy of the country, the country is in need of 64 billion Br, according to Ahmed Shide, minister of Finance. With the restructuring of the budget of this fiscal year from different government offices, 15 billion Br has already been directed to contest the impact of COVID-19. The country has already lost 11 billion Br in revenues from tax and non-tax sources due to the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. The tax collection in February compared to the same month in the last fiscal year shows a decline of 14.8pc.
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