Encouraged by the current political and economic reform in Ethiopia, the World Bank is set to provide a budget support of one billion dollars, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said.
“The World Bank has agreed to provide us a one billion dollar of direct budgetary support after several years,” he said.
The reformist premier made the statement Saturday afternoon during his first press conference since taking office four months ago. It was following the 2005 controversial election that the World Bank has stopped giving Ethiopia direct budgetary support.
Since coming to power four months ago, Prime Minister Abiy been securing funding from multiple sources to rescue the economy, which was at the verge of collapsing because of shortage of Forex and liquidity, among others.
Sabotage
In order to implicate that the reform is not on the right direction, there are groups engaged in economic sabotage, hording cash, which should be circulating in the economy, according Prime Minister Abiy.
“With in the last month 5 billion birr (around $183 million) cash is collected from these people and added to the formal banking system,” he said, stating that it makes a huge difference when the money will be invested into the economy formally.
Recently the police has also captured $10 million leaving the country. The money was supposed to be used to buy and smuggle weapons into the country by the people planning to create chaos opposing the current reform by Prime Minister Abiy, according to the new intelligence chief of the country General Adem Mohammed, who talked to state media this week.
He further stated that the economic sabotage is still there and the government will continue to tackle it in collaboration with the public.
Otherwise letting the sabotage to continue will badly harm the livelihoods of the poor people of Ethiopia as it is aimed at benefiting only those few people whose intention is to accumulate wealth in the dark and those who use it to advance their political agenda indirectly, according to Premier Abiy Ahmed.