The Council of Ministers has approved a 561.7 billion Br budget for the 2021/22 fiscal year. An all-time high, the figure portrays an 18pc increase from last year's budget and a 54pc jump from that of the 2019/20 fiscal year. Despite the increase witnessed in local currency, however, the budget has portrayed a slight decline when analysed in terms of a basket of major foreign currencies, particularly falling from 13.8 billion dollars last year to 13 billion dollars. Of the total budget approved last fiscal year, 160.3 billion Br was allocated for capital expenditure, 133.3 billion Br for recurrent spending, 176 billion Br to subsidise regional states, and six billion Br for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal projects. Parliament is yet to approve the budget, which it is expected to do before the conclusion of the current fiscal year.