Addis Ababa ( Ethiopia Today) January 31, 2023 :- The Ministry of Planning and Development (MoPD) has predicted that Ethiopia’s economy would record a 7.5 percent growth rate this Ethiopian fiscal year.
This was noted yesterday at the council of ministers’ past six-month performance evaluation and review meeting.
During the meeting, MoPD Minister Fitsum Asefa (PhD) said Ethiopia had managed to record an economic growth of 6.4 percent in the 2021/22 fiscal year.
At the end of the current fiscal year, Ethiopia’s economic growth is expected to be 7.5 percent, according to the last six months’ macroeconomic performance. Recording 6.7 percent growth in the past six months, the agricultural sector is continuously spearheading the growth of the country’s economy, she said.
The agricultural sector is boosting the growth of Ethiopia’s macroeconomy by facilitating export trade. However, the industrial sector faced severe troubles due to internal challenges and external pressures during the last two years, but recorded better performance this fiscal year, Fitsum stated.
As to be expected, the sector has resisted various challenges during the last six months and registered a growth rate of 8.2 percent. Domestic revenue from tax and non-tax sources is also among the highest performers. She further stated that 222 billion Birr of domestic income was obtained from tax and non-tax sources, a growth of 28.9 percent compared to the same period last year.
The export trade generated 1.8 billion USD in revenue and performed 77 percent compared to the plan. The country was able to attract foreign direct investment worth 1.9 billion USD. During the first six months of the 2022–23 fiscal year, a total of 1.5 million jobs were also created nationwide, she added.
On the occasion, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) said that: “While we continue to be confronted with many challenges, our economy perseveres resiliently and entails we all work collaboratively across all sections of the population to continue strengthening it.” It is to be recalled that recently the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected Ethiopia’s economy to expand by 13.5 percent on USD terms this year.
Credit (Ethiopian herald)
