respectively. Associated with this revenue base are provisional allocations to various priority and poverty-targeted sectors, amounting to ETB 47.2 billion, 49.8 billion and 53.5 billion respectively, over the same period. Given the size of the resource gap (deficit) and the limited capacity of the economy to mobilise domestic resources, the shortfalls will have to be covered from donor assistance, indicating continued reliance on donors in the medium term. There is already a strong partnership between government and development partners within the framework of the SDPRP and the PASDEP, focusing on poverty reduction. 388 Nonetheless, the level of funding needed if Ethiopia is to have any hope of approaching the MDGs implies a significant push over the coming ten years, with a sizeable increase in support from the international community. Furthermore, the level of official development assistance that Ethiopia currently receives (at US$14 per capita) is substantially lower than that of other lowincome countries, including many with higher average per capita incomes, and with better indicators of human development. Therefore, in the global context of increased aid commitments following the Gleneagles agreement, the case for increasing external finance flows to Ethiopia is very strong. Government’s commitment to spending on poverty-reducing programs, and its track record of sound financial management and implementation, serve to strengthen the case. Furthermore, the wide range of ongoing institutional and structural reforms will help enhance transparency in government expenditure management and public sector accountability. These efforts are expected to encourage all development actors to mobilise their resources towards the common goal of poverty reduction in Ethiopia. In addition, there is a growing network of national and internationally supported NGOs channelling resources to development programs in Ethiopia. Although the net effect of all of these additional sources of financing are not easy to quantify in the immediate term, it is hoped that this will be sufficient to bridge the finance gap in the longer term. Fiscal Decentralisation 389 The CRM was informed that Ethiopia started the decentralisation process since 1992, even though this was formally enshrined in the 1995 constitution that described sub-national boundaries and laid out the mechanisms for intergovernmental fiscal relations. The constitution specifically states that regions shall be formed on the basis of a common language, customs and ethnic heritage. In general, the country is structured as a four-tier government: federal government; regional government; woreda; and kebele administrations. Some of the regions have also created an administrative layer of government - called zones - between woreda and regional levels, but these have varying powers and are not explicitly mentioned in the national constitution. In 2009, there were 9 - 161 -