Ethiopia has seen a ten-fold decrease in the number of imported vehicles over the past six months, according to information APA has seen over the weekend at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Trade.
The horn African nation imported $10.7 million worth of vehicles during the first half of this budget year which began on July 8, 2020.
The amount of dollars spent for the purchase of the vehicles was found to be ten times lower compared to the over $105 million the nation spent for imported cars in the same period last year.
The heavy excise tax and COVID-19 pandemic were attributed to the decline in the number of imported vehicles into the country.
The government has collected 4.9 billion birr excise tax from imported cars during this first half of this budget year, down by 20 percent it had envisaged to earn from the business.
Accordingly the price of new and second hand vehicles has gone up in the local market after the government levied 500 percent excise tax on imported second hand vehicles.
Similarly, fuel the import has decreased. The nation imported 37 percent lower worth of fuel compared to out of 147 million dollars of fuel it imported during the first half of last year.
The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority says both commercial and private vehicles imported into the country are subjected to five different types of taxes.
However, despite the heavy tax burden there had been a rise in the numbers of car imports before 2018.
MG/abj/APA