Afghanistan parliament approves national budget for new FY

KABUL, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Afghan lawmakers on Wednesday approved a 377-billion-afghani (over 5.4 billion U.S. dollars) national budget for 1397 fiscal year on the Persian calendar, according to Afghan Finance Minister.

The 1397 fiscal year began on Dec. 22, 2017 and ends on Dec. 21, 2018.

"I am thankful to the members of Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of parliament) on approving our national budget for fiscal year 1397," Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi twitted.

The budget has been amended by the government recently after it was rejected by lawmakers in mid-December on the ground of being imbalanced and lower allocation for development spending.

"The budget was prepared based on realities of society, availability of resources, implementation of national projects, structure of the departments, a valid framework for spending and international standards," he said.

Of the total amount of the budget or 377.011 billion afghani, some 266.133 billion afghani will be allocated for ordinary budget, while 110.878 billion afghani for development budget, according to the minister.

Some 47.5 percent of the budget will be funded by national resources and the remaining will come from donor assistance, according to Finance Ministry officials. (1 U.S. dollar = 69.5 afghani) Enditem