By Nuh Mohamed - Reporter
Ethiopia, July 25 2026 – Ethiopia's Somali Regional State has approved a record budget of 108.9 billion birr, about $675 million, for the 2019 Ethiopian fiscal year (2026-2027) with more than half to be financed through domestic revenue, regional officials said on Friday.
The budget was approved during the first session of the Somali Regional State Executive Council, which also endorsed the regional government's performance report for the previous fiscal year and amendments to the region's income tax proclamation, officials said.
Finance Bureau Minister Dayib Ahmed-Nur said the budget represented a 66% increase from the previous fiscal year and marked the largest spending plan ever approved by the regional administration.
He said 51% of the budget would be financed from the region's own revenue, with the remainder coming from transfers from Ethiopia's federal government.
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According to Ahmed-Nur, the budget prioritises completing ongoing infrastructure projects, including hospitals, colleges, boarding schools and water schemes, while increasing spending on education, healthcare, agriculture and urban development.
The plan also allocates funding to expand one-stop public service centres to regional towns, accelerate the digitisation of government services and strengthen agricultural mechanisation to reduce dependence on food aid, he said.
Ahmed-Nur said social sectors, including education, health, water and livelihoods, account for about 70% of the budget, reflecting the regional government's focus on improving public services and supporting long-term development.
The approval comes weeks after Ethiopia's federal parliament approved a record budget of 2.34 trillion birr (about $14.5 billion) for the 2019 Ethiopian fiscal year.