Ethiopia’s economy is expected to grow by 8.9 percent in the fiscal year running from July 8, 2025, to July 7, 2026, an increase from the previously estimated 8.4 percent, a senior government official has said.
Finance Minister Ahmed Shide told lawmakers on Tuesday that the government is forecasting economic growth of 8.9 percent in the fiscal year which will begin on July 8, 2025 and the agricultural and industrial sectors are expected to contribute significantly to the country’s overall economic growth.
Ethiopia’s export revenue over the past 11 months of this fiscal year stood at $7.2 billion, Ahmed said, up 118.2% from the previous financial year. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has told domestic media outlets in recent days that the country’s coffee and gold exports have surged.
The IMF projected in its January assessment that goods exports for the full financial year would grow to $4.59 billion and for services to $7.97 billion. The fund has been carrying out another assessment of the economy, with its findings expected to be published in the coming weeks.
The forecast was announced Tuesday by the country’s minister of finance Ahmed Shide while proposing a 1.93 trillion Ethiopian birr as next year’s budget of the country to the Ethiopian House of People’s Representatives (HoPR), the lower chamber of parliament.
He said the east African country has faced with a budget deficit of 2.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) it is expected decline to 2.1 percent this fiscal year, while overall spending will be about 1.9 trillion birr next year.
Shide told the lawmakers that highlighted notable improvements over the past seven years in both the implementation speed and quality of government-led projects.
As a prominent example, he cited the construction of more than 22,000 kilometers of roads currently underway, underscoring the government’s unwavering commitment to infrastructure development.
He also pointed to progress in irrigation initiatives, with several projects nearing completion and already showing promising results. Similarly, tourism destination development projects are being implemented on schedule and to a high standard, with many sites now operational.
MG/abj/APA