January 20 - 2021 KHARTOUM
Nuba school children in a school in Omdurman (RD)
In a joint meeting yesterday, the Sovereign Council and the Council of Ministers approved this year’s National Budget for 2021.
Acting Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Heba Mohamed said in a press conference following the meeting that an amount of SDG 137 billion, 12.5 per cent of the budget, is reserved for education.
This represents an increase of 170 per cent compared to the education budget of last year. For the first time, the education budget exceeds the defence budget, , she said.
Nine per cent of the 2021 budget, about SDG 99 billion, is allocated to the health sector, which includes support for life-saving medicines, the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rehabilitation and expansion of rural hospitals and health centres.
January 11 - 2021 KHARTOUM
Acting Finance Minister Heba Mohamed (Social media)
The Economic Committee of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) has warned that the 2021 National Budget approved by the Council of Ministers last week will lead to an economic collapse of the country.
In an interview with Radio Dabanga, professor Mohamed Sheikhoun, member of the FFC Economic Committee, accused acting Finance Minister Heba Mohamed of presenting incorrect information about the 2021 education budget. The 2021 budget was approved by the Council of Ministers last week.
“The education budget is much smaller than the budget reserved for defence,” professor Sheikhoun he said. “The 2021 defence budget amounts to SDG 89.82 billion, which is an increase of 173 per cent compared to last year [not taking into account inflation], while education will have a budget of 16.2 billion, an increase of only nine per cent.”