Ethiopian government has requested a loan of $12 billion for the implementation of the second indigenous economic program.
The loan and grants requested is to recover the foreign debt owed by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial organizations.
Mr. Teklewold Atnafu, the Prime Minister’s Economic Adviser, told Reporter that Ethiopia’s current relations with US, France and other countries are in good steps, and the loan can be obtained.
The advisor added that, Ethiopia has requested to reschedule the loan repayment period and there is hope that the loan will be released after negotiations.
The US Congress imposed restrictions on Ethiopia in 2018 is expected to be lifted by the end of July, which is a good move to get the money.
Mr. Teklewold, who stated that important negotiations will be started soon to get the $12 billion and the final decision will be based on the results of the negotiations.
He also stated that in order to get the money, Ethiopia will enter into negotiations at a level that will allow it to handle the requests from the institutions in a balanced way.
The World Bank and IMF will release the funds that Ethiopia requested before the end of 2023.
According to the National Bank, Ethiopia has a foreign debt of $28 billion and would put as one of the countries with the highest debt burden.
The World Bank and the IMF have set conditions before granting loans to Ethiopia, the first of which is to devalue Ethiopian money and to equate black market foreign currency with the bank’s.
Ethiopian economists are urging the government to not accept the preconditions of World Bank and IMF. The economists suggested that, if Ethiopia devalues its money, inflation would destabilize the national economy.
