BY BETELHEM BEDLU
ADDIS ABABA- The ongoing macroeconomic measures have brought promising results in sustaining Ethiopia’s economy even if the country has been challenged by the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic and civil war, the Ministry of Finance said.
Speaking to local media, Finance State Minister Eyob Tekalign (PhD) stated that the war TPLF triggered on Ethiopia forced the nation to channel enormous resources to war efforts that would be spent to accelerate development. The government has carried out various activities to rehabilitate the economy and restore the damage that was caused by the military conflict.
The state minister further noted that utmost priority has been given to overcome impacts of the war and sustain the auspicious economic progress Ethiopia has been demonstrating over years. To this effect, the government has been engaged to fully utilize the potentials of the priority sectors including agriculture, tourism and mining.
“Agriculture still constitutes a major share in Ethiopia’s economy and we believe that within these two years, we are able to efficiently utilize the sector’s potential. What we have come to understand from the past two years is how we failed to exploit the sector.”
As to him, the government has been fully engaged in the tourism, mining and ICT sectors and experts in the tourism industry predicted that Ethiopia would become one of the preferred tourist destinations globally. Consolidating the link between foreign and local investment and expanding small and medium institutions would be other priority areas the government would be engaged in the coming years.
Eyob stressed that the government’s ability to stabilize the soaring inflation, especially in the past two or three months, is a ‘great success.’ The government has spent millions of dollars to stabilize the economy through the purchase of basic food items including wheat and edible oil from international exporters.
“The government has been exerting unreserved efforts to increase productivity and narrow down the gap between the demand and supply sides of the Ethiopian economy.” Also, joint ventures have been set up with international development partners to revive the economy.
The January 29/2022
