In the past one year, the war ignited by the junta incurred heavy economic and social damage on the nation. Infrastructures such as hospitals, academic institutions and industries are demolished. Important equipment from offices and properties are also looted.
Domestic animals are killed and crops that were to be harvested also are burned. The psychological trauma experienced by the communities in war affected areas is beyond imagination. Millions are also displaced from their homes.
According to some estimation, reconstructing the infrastructural damage needs billion of Dollar which needs galvanizing domestic and foreign resources. Currently the war is subsided and the Junta lost vast battle grounds and taking the situation as good chance, the government dispatched experts to the war affected areas in order to assess the impact of the war.
According to the State Minister of Ministry of Finance Eyob Tekalign (PHD), after the study conducted by the dispatched enter ministerial task force is completed the recovery plan will be prepared and the reconstruction work will be started.
According to information obtained from the surrounding areas sectors such as agriculture, tourism and health are critically affected.
As to Eyob, ministries such as education and health sent their preliminary assessment to the Ministry of Finance and recently the Council of Ministers discussed on it. But it will be finalized when all sectors reports are submitted.
However, as to Eyob, though the nation is facing hard ship because of the war, the economic performance can be said a good and the macro economy registered better accomplishment.
In some parts of the country farmers did their job by aiming at compensating the damaged crops in the war torn areas. Coffee farmers in the western parts of the country collected their harvest without fearing the bandits’ bullets that surfaced themselves in those areas.
Coffee exporters send their trucks to the areas to keep the volume of the product with no deduction and supplied to the market.
He further said that, the implementation of the home grown economic growth plan also played crucial role to with stand the shake.
Before the withdrawal of the Ethiopian army from Mekele which is the capital of Tigray, the government was prepared to implement the reconstruction plan of the region but when the conflict orchestrated by the junta was aggravated, it was unable to do so.
BY now the resource mobilization activity based on the report coming from the ministerial committees for the war recover is underway.
Months ago when the Ethiopian Economic Association president Mengistu Ketema was interviewed by the local media explained that, because of the inflicted damage on the economy due to the war might pose scarcity of foreign currency which is vital to revive the economy. He also said that, to use the hard currency economically, the government must Spend the budget on the prioritized mega projects. In addition banning the importation of expensive leisure items must be taken as option.
Strengthening this idea Eyob said that, when the economy is heavily stressed by the war instead of importing perfume and other leisure items, importing medicine must be prioritized and such measure should be supported by policy and proclamation and hoped that, after months will be introduced.
Side by side with these, reducing the pace of project accomplishment can be taken as a way out. Because it can reduce the immediate cost of the project and the government allocation of the budget will be based on its capacity. But ultimately it should be understood that saving the nation from dismemberment must be supported by economic boost.
The Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide on his part said that, the war incurred heavy pressure on the economy and displacement of the people in the war affected areas also brought social disaster.
He further said that, last year’s economic growth was good and grew by six percent however, it is impossible to say that the war did not affect the economy but the tremendous economic achievement witnessed in the decade enabled to with stand the shake. But currently the economy felt the brunt of the war impact. The economic pressure experienced in the past five months forced the government to spend up to 10 billion birr for the emergency food aid.
He further said that, more than two million people are displaced from their home and left to survive by foreign handouts. Institutions are demolished; more than 2 billion birr which was to be collected in the form of tax from the public is not collected.
As to Ahemed, except on the export sector other sectors are found themselves in recession. With regard to job creation opportunities in this budget year short comings certainly will occur.
In related with the income economy of the nation, recession has been common .Therefore, it is fair to say that the economy suffers from crises posed by the war.
The war is not still completed hence, it incurs additional cost on government expenditure as the result, and government is forced to budgetary shift based on the priorities of the projects. Projects which are not entered to their implementation phase will be halted. And the budget will be allotted to the war efforts which serves to recruiting soldiers, organizing and arming.
For the 2014 budget year, the Council Representatives ratified 561 billion birr and out of it 200 billion birr is allocated to the regional governments for budget subsidy. The rest 183.5 billion birr is allotted to the capital budget and as compared to the last year’s budget, it is surpassed by 20 billion birr.
In addition to shifting budgets from sectors to sectors, the council of Ministers prepared the new draft law and submitted to the councils of people’s representatives for endorsement.
The draft law prepared by the Ministry of Finance demands the 122 billion birr additional budget and the money is allotted for keeping the nation security, to cover the humanitarian efforts, to rehabilitate the war displaced people in addition, it will be used to cover other government expenses.
The other reason which necessitates the preparation for the additional budget is that the war that took place in the northern part of the country consumed more money and the damage cost is beyond the government revenue collecting capacity and is not addressed by only shifting budget from sector to sectors.
One of the institutions which are expected as source to the intended additional 122 billion birr is the 400 million Dollar prepared by the world Bank intended to be allocated for rehabilitation of displaced people all over the world and in addition, 350 million Dollar is expected to be obtained from donors intended for humanitarian purpose. In addition holding some budget intended to subsidize and spending for other purpose has taken as option.
According the Amhara Region Plan and Development Bureau recovering and reconstructing the damage posed by the war will take up to 30 years.
According to the Region Communication Office Head Gizachew Muluneh, the rough studies conducted in the region indicated that the infrastructural damage occurred in the region is estimated to 279 billion birr. The region based on the assessment will submit the report to the federal government to obtain financial support.
ABEBE WOLDEGIORGIS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 28 JANUARY 2022
