Ethiopian Review

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) said Ethiopia has secured 12.8 billion birr financial assistance in the form of aid and loan from various multilateral and bilateral sources over the past nine months.

The ministry also said the amount of disbursement from aid and loan assistance pledged to the nation has reached 16.96 billion birr .

Some 9.6 billion birr of the stated sum has been secured in the form of loan while the remaining in aid, public relations head with the ministry, Haji Ebsa told ENA on Tuesday.

The financial aid and provision of loans secured over the reported period from the various multilateral and bilateral financial sources has shown a 37.9 percent increase compared to that of same time last year, the head said.

The head said the various multilateral financial sources include International Development Association (IDA), OPEC, EU, UNDP, FAO, AU, AfDB IMF and GEF.

The bilateral sources also include various nations including the Netherlands, India, Sweden, Japan, South Korea, China, Ireland, Spain, USA, Austria, France, UK and Kuwait, the head added.

According to the head, the amount of disbursement has reached 16.96 billion, showing a 61.47 percent increase compared with that of same time last year.

The head, who recalled that Ethiopia is one of the developing countries that are benefited from various debt cancellation programs, said 155.74 million birr debt has been cancelled to Ethiopia during the current fiscal year.

The debt cancellation programs regarding Ethiopia’s debt relief were made by its development partners including the African Development Bank (AfDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and Nordic Development Fund (NDF), he said.

- ENA