Addis Ababa, 6 April 2015 (WIC) – The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development stated that the UK will continue its support to Ethiopia without changing its aid mechanism, as per the economic growth Ethiopia is displaying currently.
According to the Ethiopian Herald, the Ministry also noted that the main aim of the government of Ethiopia is to work with the people to break free from aid and loan and create confidence.
Haji Ibsa, Public Relation Director of the Ministry said the relation between the two countries goes a long way back and noted that the UK aid used to be incorporated in the country’s budget, and then trickled down to each State except for Addis Ababa. And this mechanism of doing things has made way to a new approach in which it specifically supports Ethiopia in sectors and aspects that would hasten its development. “And this shows that only the aid system has changed, and not that the aid is stopped all together,” he added.
Citing the growth Ethiopia is making, the Director said that England only changed its aid mechanism and in fact both countries are currently discussing ways to further strengthen their relation, and the aid might show an increase from its previous magnitude.” What Britain is saying is that Ethiopia will enter middle income country status in the coming years, and will be among the top ten countries that are recording rapid development,” said Haji. He went to say that the fact that Ethiopia entered the international capital market is an indication of the huge strides the country is making.
Out of its position to muster its capabilities to raise the coverage of the annual budget from domestic sources, which is currently working to raise it to 82 per cent from 70 per cent from the time of the first phase of the Growth and Transformation Plan, the Director highlighted that the Ethiopian government is working hard to achieve that as it can be seen from the many positive changes and improvements.
And if the need for loan arises, Hagi said that there’s no reason that would stop Ethiopia from taking loans it needs for its projects, just like any other country would.
