Business
Ethiopia targets two digit economic growth
The Ethiopian government says the country’s economy will grow by 11.3 percent this year. Ethiopia’s economy grew by 9.7 percent during the 2012/13 financial year and missed the 11 percent target set by the government. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Thursday said the agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors would drive the economic growth.
According to a report on the performance of the economy presented to parliament on Thursday, agricultural production in the first three quarters of the 2013/14 fiscal year increased by 15 percent. During the same period last year the sector grew by 8.6 percent. The government said manufacturing and the service sectors had grown by 21.4 percent and 10 percent, respectively during the first quarter.
Hailemariam told MPs, “For the past 10 years, the country has registered an average 10.9 percent real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth rate and this trend has shown us that the country is in high economic growth trajectory.” In contrast, other sub-Saharan African economies grew by an average of 5.4 percent during the same period. Hailemariam said his government was encouraged by the country’s sustained growth over the years. He also said, “Our prediction for the current Ethiopian fiscal year is for the country to register an 11.3 economic growth,” he said.
