Ethiopia’s foreign-currency reserves rose to $3.2 billion after years of depletion, enough to cover about three months of basic imports—mainly fuel—finance officials told state-linked broadcaster FBC, New Business Ethiopia reported.
The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia main office in Addis Ababa (Khajitdadddy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0) [file photo]
State Minister of Finance Eyob Tekalign said the government was trying to narrow gaps between income and spending, saving and investment, and imports and exports. Macroeconomist Eyob Tesfaye warned that without higher local production and export earnings the country could face a major macroeconomic crisis.
In the Ethiopian fiscal year that ended 7 July 2019, goods exports—mainly agricultural commodities—earned about $2.8 billion, while annual import spending ran around $17 billion, largely for capital goods and machinery, according to the same report.
Sources: New Business Ethiopia