Burundi’s budget will rise by 15.9% to 4.4 trillion Burundi francs ($1.5 billion) for the 2024/25 financial year starting in July, mainly due to the reinstatement of civil servants’ salary bonuses, Finance Minister Audace Niyonzima announced on Thursday.
Parliament approved the budget with 84.7% of the votes after Niyonzima presented it. The economy is expected to grow by 5.4%, up from 4.2% in 2023/24, boosted by government investment programs and improved cooperation with development partners, Niyonzima stated.
The World Bank attributes Burundi’s improved economic outlook to favorable rainfall, a gradual resurgence of investment in the mining sector, strategic public investment, and the beneficial effects of fiscal, monetary, and foreign exchange policy reforms.
Burundi, a landlocked nation with 13.2 million residents, 80% of whom are employed in agriculture, ranks among the poorest and most densely populated countries globally.
In 2015, the government froze salaries following the imposition of donor sanctions due to political turmoil in the East African country.
These sanctions were lifted in 2021. “The priority allocations retained in this draft budget, which are at the origin of the budget increase, include particularly salaries and bonuses which have increased significantly,” Niyonzima said.
Additionally, the budget will allocate funds towards the construction of road infrastructure in both rural and urban areas, he added.
Niyonzima stated that the budget will be equally funded by internal and external revenues, resulting in a projected deficit of 441.9 billion francs for the next financial year, an increase from 426.5 billion francs in 2023/24.
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