KABUL (SW): The Wolesi Jirga (lower house) has approved the annual budget worth AFN 420 billion for 2017-18 by majority of votes.
The draft budget has twice been rejected by the members of the parliament for different reasons. On Monday, the speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi called for voting on it, and after a debate on the budget majority of the members voted in its favor.
According to the Ministry of Finance, up to 268 billion afghanis have been earmarked for expenditures and 161 billion afghanis for development. It said the Kabul government has managed to lift its revenue generation to at least 37 percent of the whole budget, which is remarkable considering Afghanistan's heavy reliance on foreign aid.
Amir Khan Yaar, chairman of the house’ committee on finance and buget, said on the occasion the MoF has assured parliamentarians that additional development projects worth some $ 70 million would be facilitated in the coming years.
ENDS
