Finance Minister Calls on Collaboration of All Stakeholders for Success of Ethiopia's Homegrown Economic Reform

Addis Ababa  October 8/2019 The implementation of Ethiopia’s homegrown economic reform agenda needs active collaboration of all stakeholders, Finance Minister Ahmed Shide observed today.

Briefing officials drawn from regional states and city administrations about the economic reform, Finance Minister Ahmed Shide said the active participation of the private sector and stakeholders is essential for the implementation of the reform initiative.

He added that the event would help to get inputs, enrich the reform with ideas and exchange views on how to overcome possible constraints that could surface during implementation.

According to him, it is incumbent upon all regional states to boost production and productivity. All should discharge their responsibilities to implement this reform by integrating human and natural resources at the disposal of the country.

The reform is aimed at sustaining the ongoing economic growth and create more employment opportunities for the youth, Ahmed pointed out, adding that all the concerned officials should work together to achieve the goals.

Speaking on the occasion, Finance State Minister Eyob Tekalign said "our reform agenda aims to overcome the challenges the country faces economically through comprehensive and well synchronized set of measures.”

Macroeconomic reforms would be the main focal areas along with structural reforms and sector-oriented reforms, he added.

Furthermore, Eyob revealed that priority will be given to agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, and mining as well as ICT and creative industries to ensure the sustainability of the ongoing economic growth.

According to the state minister, the reform will sustain rapid and inclusive economic growth setting the country on the path of prosperity with the objective of eradicating extreme poverty and food shortage and reducing the proportion of people living in poverty by half over the next ten years.

The implementation of the homegrown economic reform will require mobilization of domestic savings and privatization proceeds as well as significant international financial support, Eyob further pointed out.

Additional external financing is expected to be mobilized from multilateral development partners in the form of concessional and/or de-risked financing, it was learned.   

Some of the participants, who expressed their commitment to collaborated with the federal government, stressed on the importance of introducing a comprehensive set of incentives to ensure growth in the agricultural sector.