Ethiopia’s Macroeconomic Reform Showing Encouraging Results At Early Stage – President Taye

Addis Ababa, — The comprehensive macroeconomic reform program that Ethiopia unveiled is designed to address structural challenges and propel the country toward sustainable economic transformation, President Taye Atske Selassie underscored.

The President made the remarks while opening the Ethiopian Finance Forum convened today by the National Bank of Ethiopia.

The forum was aimed to align on the future of Ethiopia’s financial systems and promote collaboration and investment opportunities.

The forum is believed to serve as a platform to policymakers, financial institutions, development partners, private sector stakeholders, financial sector experts as well as the international community and diaspora to discuss, share experiences and prospects for financial sector development.

The president stated that Ethiopia’s economic reform program aimed at promoting a more open, competitive and private-led growth model that attracts foreign direct investment.

The reform is being executed with meticulous planning, seamless coordination and proper sequencing, President Taye said, stating that, “There was a close partnership between pertinent ministries and the National Bank of Ethiopia.”

Particular attention was given to ensure that appropriate mitigation measures were embedded in the reform process, he added.

He also noted that the success of the reform can also be measured by the amount of financial support it garnered from multilateral financial institutions.

According to the president, the support provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the largest ever concessional funding in IMF’s history. The World Bank has also approved one of the largest loans in recent years, providing critical budget support to sustain the reform momentum.

The unprecedented financial commitment from the IMF, World Bank and other institution is a testimony to Ethiopia’s reform trajectory, President Taye noted.

He underscored that the fact that the reform programs have shown encouraging results at an early stage, on the fiscal and revenue side, is proof that the reform is a blueprint, feasible and achievable.

“We recognize that the journey towards fully achieving our reform is arduous, requiring considerable efforts and discipline, and yet attainable,” the president stressed.