PM forecast Ethiopia’s economy to grow by 6% despite pandemic

Addis Ababa, June 8, 2020 (FBC) -The House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR)  today held its 5th extraordinary session in the presence of Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed.

The Prime Minister responded to questions raised by members of the House that focused on coronavirus pandemic, agriculture, upcoming election and other current affairs .

Responding to question regarding the effect of the coronavirus pandemic, he said, Ethiopia, like any other nations, will have its share from the humanitarian and economic impacts of the virus.

The Prime Minister quoted IMF report as saying that global trade volume growth declined by 27% and 170 countries will register negative economic growth this fiscal year due to the pandemic.

About 350 million people have lost their jobs, tourism declined by 80% and airlines forced to cut 90 % of their international flights because of the pandemic, he said.

According to the Prime Minister, Ethiopia will have its own share from all these impacts, including on its remittance and economic growth. The 9% projected economic growth for this fiscal year will decline to 6% because of the pandemic.

Despite the pandemic, the country’s coffee export grew by 16% to $667 million and meat exports by 21% to $41 million during the past 10 months, he indicated.

Moreover, Ethiopian commercial banks managed to collect 138 billion birr loan repayments, distributed 221 billion birr loan and deposited 87 billion birr on savings, he said.

Furthermore, 800 kilograms of gold were supplied to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) during the past 10 months, according to the Prime Minister.

Speaking about the current status of the virus in the country, he said, its spread is increasing from time to time. The number of confirmed cases now reached 2,020 with 27 deaths so far.

To build testing capacity, more than 31 laboratories were established in the past 3 months alone. Testing capacity will rise to 14,000 per day with the addition of other laboratories in June and July, he said.

The Prime Minister said the federal government has distributed a total of 400 million birr to regional states and city administrations to help them fight against the pandemic.

As far as agriculture is cornered, the government is committed to ensuring no land remains uncultivated in this season of farming, the Prime Minister indicated.

He stated that more than 10,000 water pumps, 14.6 million quintals of fertilizer and 755,000 litres of agricultural chemicals are being distributed to farmers.

Replaying to concern on water hyacinth on Lake Tana, the Prime Minister said the government has paid attention and fighting the plant has continued by using machines and human power.

However, he said, using machines and human power cannot be a solution and it requires environmental protection as a long term solution to address the root cause of the problem.

The Prime Minister added that purchases of additional machinery are also underway with 300 million birr to combat the plant.

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