ADDIS ABABA: According to a new report by the World Bank, the Ethiopian economy has been growing at twice the rate of the rest of Africa, averaging, 10.6 percent GDP growth a year between 2004 and 2011 compared to 5.2 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Ethiopia Economic Update launched in December attributes this impressive economic growth mainly to agricultural modernization, the development of new export sectors, strong global commodity demand, and government-led development investments. “Two and a half million people in Ethiopia have been lifted out of poverty over the past five years as a result of strong economic growth, bringing the poverty rate down from 38.7 percent to 29.6 percent between 2004/05 and 2010/11″, says Guang Zhe Chen, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia. “The Government target to reduce poverty to 22.2 percent by 2014/15 is ambitious but attainable.” The Government of Ethiopia has also made progress in tackling the persistently high inflation, which affected the economy over the past two years, by tightening its fiscal and monetary stance. As a result, inflation is on a decreasing trend, falling from 33 percent in 2011 to 15.8 percent in October 2012 (year on year).This is good news for the poor and for the overall economy. The Report illustrates comparisons of Ethiopia's development experience with those of China and Korea. These suggest Ethiopia is well on track for its development. According to analysts Bikyanews.com spoke with, there is much optimism over recent East Asian investments and the future bolstering of the Ethiopian economy, especially considering the change in leadership the country witnessed last fall following the passing of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. They believe that the country is on the right path toward increasing their economic growth and feel that measures in place should help create a new boom for the East African country. BN
