Friday November 1, 2019
MOGADISHU (HOL) - Somalia's Cabinet on Thursday approved a draft budget of $459.5 million for the 2020 financial year, which is about $130 million more than the previous fiscal year.
The government said the increase is as a result of salary increments made for the government soldiers. The government soldier received a salary increment of 70 dollars, making his total salary US $230.
"This is a good beginning, but they deserve us more than that. Following the long SNA reform process, we have now directed our attention and focus to improve the economic quality of our army. This is now the first year. It is a new beginning, but we will keep it up," said Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire.
Chairing the meeting in which the draft budget was approved, Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire thanked the Ministry of Finance for the finalization of the draft budget on time and all the government institutions that played a role in the increase of the government revenues.
"I would like to thank my Council of Ministers for the sacrifices and hard work for this country. If some of the people are doubtful about your service for this nation, you should know that when you were appointed to offices, the country's budget stood at US $168 million. Today you have approved a US $460 million budget!"
Prime Minister Khaire added that if the current work and tempo was maintained and the country's debt cancelled, his government would be able to transform the country's national budget from millions into billions.