• by IPS Correspondents (addis ababa)
• Wednesday, November 09, 1994
• Inter Press Service

ADDIS ABABA, Nov 09 (IPS) - ECONOMIC REFORMS APPEAR TO HAVE PAID DIVIDENDS IN ETHIOPIA, BUT DROUGHT THREATENS TO ERODE GAINS MADE BY ITS EXPORTERS.

ACCORDING TO TRADE MINISTER HASSEN ABDEL, ETHIOPIA ACHIEVED 94 PERCENT OF ITS EXPORT TARGET, WITH GOODS SOLD ABROAD INCREASING BY 54 PERCENT IN THE 1993-1994 FISCAL YEAR, WHICH CLOSED IN SEPTEMBER, THE END OF THE ETHIOPIAN CALENDAR YEAR.

"ETHIOPIA NETTED 1.8 BILLION BIRR (ABOUT 300 MILLION DOLLARS) IN FOREIGN CURRENCY EARNINGS FROM EXPORT OF VARIOUS PRODUCTS LAST YEAR," HE TOLD A TRADE SECTOR REVIEW MEETING OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND PRIVATE BUSINESSPERSONS OVER THE WEEKEND.

COFFEE AND HIDES ACCOUNTED FOR 52 PERCENT AND 13 PERCENT RESPECTIVELY OF THE TOTAL EARNINGS. ABOUT 34 PERCENT CAME FROM ASSORTED COMMODITIES, INCLUDING CEREALS, OIL SEEDS, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, WHICH WERE HANDLED BY PRIVATE ENTREPRENEURS.

PRIVATE EXPORTERS ALSO STRUCK A MARKET FOR 33,000 SHEEP AND GOATS AND 4,000 HEAD OF LIVE CATTLE IN MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES.

"GOVERNMENT WILL ALWAYS BE ON THE SIDE OF EXPORTERS WHO REINFORCE THE NATION'S CAPACITY TO BRING IN MORE FOREIGN EXCHANGE WHICH IS CRUCIAL FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT," THE MINISTER SAID.

ETHIOPIA'S TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT, IN POWER SINCE JULY 1991, HAS STEADLY PURSUED AN ECONOMIC REFORM PROGRAMME WHICH REFLECTS A SHIFT FROM THE STATE-CENTRED POLICIES OF THE PREVIOUS MILITARY REGIME TO A MARKET ECONOMY.

WHILE PRIVATE ENTREPRENEURS HAVE BEEN GIVEN MORE FREEDOM TO OPERATE, AN ONGOING REFORM AIMS TO MAKE PARASTATALS FUNCTION LIKE PRIVATE FIRMS AND JUSTIFY THEIR EXISTENCE THROUGH PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFITABILITY.

PRIME MINISTER TAMRAT LAYNE TOLD THE WEEKEND MEETING THAT THE GOVERNMENT "HAS BEEN INTRODUCING RADICAL POLICY MEASURES TO LIBERATE THE EXPORT TRADE FROM ALL BUREAUCRATIC BOTTLENECKS AND TO ENCOURAGE THE PARTICIPATION OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR."

THESE MEASURES INCLUDE THE LIFTING OF AN EXPORT LEVY AND THE INTRODUCTION OF A FORTNIGHTLY FOREIGN CURRENCY AUCTION SYSTEM, ACCESSIBLE TO BOTH THE GOVERNMENT SECTOR AND BUSINESS PEOPLE.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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