(CTN News) – A new tax that will be imposed on all workers was approved by the Ethiopian parliament on Thursday as part of the steps being taken to address the financial deficit caused by the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) early-year funding transfer delay.

One of the measures being implemented is this tax. This tax is one of the elements that is collected for every act and is also regarded as an element.

The funds will be transferred to a new Ethiopian Disaster Risk Response Fund and deposited by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ethiopia’s most significant development and humanitarian operations partner.

The purpose of this fund is to respond to disasters that have posed a threat to Ethiopia. A number of initiatives have already received funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and this grant will guarantee that these initiatives will continue to be supported.

The funds being awarded will be used by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to fund projects that the agency has previously funded and implemented.

Currently, Ethiopia’s Amhara and Oromia regions are at odds with one another and fighting a war. All of these areas are completely confined within Ethiopia’s borders.

Additionally, Tigray is one of the areas still recuperating after a two-year conflict, in addition to being one of the territories currently involved in active combat. It has been around two years since this fight began. A direct result of the ongoing wars is the need for millions of people to have access to food and healthcare.

Those working in the commercial sector will also be held accountable for covering the costs of the new tax, in addition to those in the public sector. Companies from a variety of industries, such as finance and hospitality, will be expected to contribute money to show their support for the cause.

To continue, it will be necessary to have this present. A parliamentary committee has been tasked with investigating the recently proposed law and is currently assessing it in order to perform an analysis of the percentages that will be contributed.

The goal of this discussion is to determine the total amount of money that will be provided in order to calculate it beforehand. With $1.8 billion in aid to Ethiopia in fiscal year 2023, the United States of America gave the country more aid than any other nation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ethiopia receives the greatest humanitarian aid from the United States.

Approximately 125 million people are thought to inhabit that planet. Due in significant part to its massive population, Ethiopia has the highest population density of any nation in the region.

The monies were utilised to buy potentially life-saving HIV drugs, vaccines, literacy programs, job development, and food distribution. The money also covered the cost of food distribution.

There was also an increase in work opportunities. Additionally, the funds were used to develop programs for the distribution of food, which was a noteworthy contribution. Furthermore, Ethiopia successfully freed one million refugees who had been held captive inside its borders and offered assistance to those folks.

Most of the time, these programs are no longer a part of the activities that the organisations they were formerly linked with are doing.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has placed the staff responsible for their supervision on administrative leave and instructed them not to report to work. This is because their acts have the potential to result in their termination from their position.

SOURCE: AP