President Stresses Need for Prioritizing Economy

Addis Ababa October 5/2020(ENA) The government needs to prioritize key economic measures and curb inflation against the background of COVID-19 epidemic this Ethiopian budget year, President Sahlework Zewdie said.

The president made the remark in her opening speech to the joint regular session of the House of Federation and House of People’s Representatives today.

She said agricultural production and productivity will be improved through mechanized farming, finance provision, irrigation, and provision of modern agriculture inputs.

Comprehensive work will be done to reduce farming in fragmented way and move into cluster farming, the president added.

Shalework said attention should be given to minimize the economic impact of coronavirus, to post-COVID-19 economic recovery and to grab opportunities that come along the pandemic.

According to her, encouraging results have been observed in checking inflation. But it is critical to maintain the macroeconomic stability and control inflation.

Suppressing inflation to a single digit through monetary and fiscal policies is essential, she noted.

Most of the delayed projects have been causes for public grievances, she said, adding that  “this will be the year where the projects will be accomplished and start operation.”

Sahlework further pointed out that the success of the Green Legacy will be expanded to neighboring countries in the region and maintained.

Speaking of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the president revealed that two turbines will start early generation while the second phase filling will proceed as planned.