Ethiopia's economy is expected to grow by 7.9 percent in the current 2023/2024 Ethiopian fiscal year that started on July 8, the country's President Sahle-Work Zewde has said.
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The Ethiopian president made the remarks while addressing the joint session of the House of Peoples Representatives (the lower house of the parliament) and House of Federation (the upper house of the parliament) Monday.
Zewde said the East African country has registered a 7.5 percent national economic growth over the past 2022/23 fiscal year that ended on July 7, 2023, state-run Ethiopian News Agency quoted Zewde as saying.
She said the economic growth was achieved despite challenging circumstances emanating from natural and manmade calamities. "Our economy is at a turning point, emerging from difficulty and entering a new era of sustained expansion."
The president said as part of the efforts to circumvent the challenging circumstances, the Ethiopian government has introduced a dedicated initiative dubbed "Let Ethiopia Produce," which facilitated the opening of 160 factories across the country.
According to Zewde, the service sector in particular expanded by 7.8 percent, while the tourism sector posted encouraging gains despite challenges.
She stressed that the Ethiopian government will strive to achieve the projected 7.9 percent economic growth in the current Ethiopian fiscal year, adding that particular emphasis will be given to reducing inflation, improving the performance of the agriculture sector, and increasing tax revenue and foreign direct investment inflow into the country.
According to the president, the positive economic growth will enable the creation of over 3.5 million new jobs during the course of the current Ethiopian fiscal year. ■
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