The Ethiopian Parliament approved last week a budget of Birr 802bn for the 2023- 24 fiscal year, an increase of just 2 percent from the previous year. The very restrained spending growth presented in the new budget is positive for reducing the deficit and for helping lower inflation, but unfavorable spending patterns are becoming entrenched with rising allocations for debt service (now a quarter of total Government spending and a third of revenue) and falling allocations for ….