The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia : 2016 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

The newly issued five-year second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II) envisages continued high growth and public infrastructure investment, while placing a greater emphasis on private sector development and foreign direct investment (FDI), competitiveness, and export-oriented industrialization. A major drought and deterioration of the external environment resulted in a 2015/16 growth slowdown to an estimated 6.5 percent. Stability-oriented macroeconomic policies and effective policy responses, including food imports, to mitigate the drought’s social costs kept inflation low and the budget deficit on target. The current account, however, posted for a second year a deficit above 10 percent of GDP.