Addis ababa: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated that the Ethiopian economy is on track to register a double-digit growth rate during the current Ethiopian fiscal year. Addressing questions raised by members of the House of People's Representatives (HPR), he attributed the optimistic forecast to the past year's successful execution of major policy commitments.
According to Ethiopian News Agency, Ethiopia's overall growth trajectory is among the four or five globally fast-growing economies. The foundation of this projected growth is the comprehensive Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda, which fundamentally shifts the nation's economic reliance away from a purely agriculture-led model.
The administration recognized that singular sectoral dependence could not help achieve the required pace of poverty reduction. Consequently, the Homegrown Reform strategy emphasizes a diversified, multi-sectoral approach integrating agriculture, industry, mining, tourism, and technology, supported by partnerships between the government, the private sector, and civil society, the Prime Minister elaborated.
Despite the strategic shift, he noted that the agriculture sector grew by 7.3 percent in the last fiscal year, contributing 2.3 percent to the overall GDP growth. The industry sector expanded by 13 percent, contributing 3.7 percent to GDP growth, reflecting an ongoing structural transition from construction dominance toward manufacturing and mining. The mining sector, in particular, registered substantial progress, boosting its contribution to GDP growth from 0.1 percent to 1 percent.
The services sector maintained strong growth at 7.5 percent, contributing 3.1 percent to the overall growth. Abiy highlighted notable improvements in fiscal strength and foreign exchange generation. Government revenue rose from 170 billion Birr at the start of the reform period to 1 trillion Birr this fiscal year. The country's Foreign Currency (FX) reserve position also improved tenfold compared to pre-reform levels.
Regarding international trade, Abiy stated that the total volume of exports achieved in the entire last fiscal year was matched in just four months of the current fiscal year. For the first time in Ethiopia's history, the country earned 8.1 billion USD from exports last fiscal year. These external inflows were supplemented by substantial remittances totaling 7.4 billion USD, alongside Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) exceeding 4 billion USD.
Regarding debt, the Prime Minister stated that Ethiopia's total debt does not exceed 23 billion USD, the majority of which is a commercial loan. The government is carrying out loan negotiations, and Abiy affirmed that his government has not incurred a single dollar of new commercial loan over the past seven years.