Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed disclosed that the nation has reduced import spending by three percent this Ethiopian fiscal year.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gave explanations on the government’s performance report of the 2015 Ethiopian fiscal year during the 28th regular session of the House of People’s Representatives.
The premier responded to questions raised from the members of parliament (MPs), as there have been improvements in the import and export sector over the past two years.
“Although commodities exports have decreased by 11 percent in comparison to last year, we have seen a 14 percent increase in services, 4.8 percent increase remittance and 10.5 increases in FDI earnings,” he elaborated.
Imports of crops of wheat, rice and others, namely, coals and clothes have been reduced, he elaborated.
As a result, the country’s import has been reduced to 9.8 percent from 13 percent.
On other hand, the nation has spent 15 billion USD on trade in the fiscal year, including four billion US dollars for fuel, two billion US dollars for debt and one billion US dollars for fertilizer, the premier added.
Noting that the deficit of income and import expenditure in country is very high, he said that various activities have been carrying out to narrow this gab.
As a result of the measures taken, he stated that 365.8 billion birr income was obtained, which is 26.1 percent growth from same period last year.
The nation has spent 574.4 billion birr in expenditure, showing increment of 13 percent compared to same period last year, he noted.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency