Products, Services Help to Bring More Foreign Currency, Prevent Black Market: Scholars

Addis Ababa August 11/2018 Engaging extensively on products and services that help to earn foreign currency is crucial to prevent black market in Ethiopia, scholars in the area said. They stressed that balancing of supply and demand based on information by creating competitive market system. Development Studies Assistant Professor at Civil Service University, Kassa Teshager said the main cause of black market is the disruption of the market system. According to him, lack of a market system based on information and competition has given opportunity to a few individuals to monopolize the market. This in turn disrupts the market by opening the door for black market that enables the few people to import goods from abroad, he elaborated. Foreign currency is made to enter the country illegally and competition is stifled. This will cause harm to the economy of the country by triggering inflation, Kassa stated. He recommended that the government should focus on export-based industrialization that saves foreign currency. In addition to this, he also stressed the need for modernizing the tax and market systems in the country. Initiative Africa Director, Kibur Gena said black market is a problem on one hand and it should exist on the other hand. However, there will be a need to narrow the foreign exchange rate whenever  it shows wide variation from regular exchange in banks, he added. Kibur observed that the main problem is the ineffectiveness of the the industry and service sectors to generate foreign currency. Thus the government should give priority to these sectors in order to boost the economy.