The Government has thrown its full weight behind a comprehensive economic reform agenda, so disclosed president Sahalework Zewde.
On the meeting of IDA19 replenishment, she said that the economic reform agenda encompasses privatization of state-owned enterprises, boosting domestic resource mobilization, reversing the stagnation in export performance, promoting increased agricultural production and productivity.
The president further said that the privatization works includes partial and full privatization of critical state assets in telecommunications, energy, logistics, railways, sugar, air transport, and several other sectors.
She highlighted that that the objective of this policy direction is multi-fold, including promoting efficiency in the economy, enhancing the private sector participation , improving the economy’s competitiveness, raising more resources for the country’s development efforts, and more broadly ensuring fiscal sustainability.
The president noted that one of the key objectives in the current reform will be reinforcing the role of the private sector in
the economy. Rendering the general business environment conducive, addressing specific constraints affecting the effectiveness of the private capital, promoting more FDI flows and implementing effectively the public-partnership framework will be some of the key strategies to press more on this front.
The president noted that in the current three years’ program of budget support between Ethiopia and the World Bank, IDA resources are being used very effectively to promote the productivity and efficiency of private sector’s operation throughout the economy.
Adding the president said that the program supports the introduction of competition in key economic sectors, effective implementation of the privatization agenda, improvement of the business climate, management and governance of state-owned enterprises, modernization of the financial sector including the development of secondary markets government bonds, and promotion of more sustainable fiscal financing.
In the global context, the president stated that IDA helped to provide essential health services to 657 million people around the globe; gave access to better water services to 86 million people. And it as well had provided immunization for 274 million children as well as recruited and trained 8.5 million teachers.
And it constructed, rehabilitated or upgraded 140,000 kilometers of road. This is a significant achievement and a solid reason to continue funding the IDA window and given the opportunities and challenges facing international development association recipient nations. There will be a lot of value generated from a robust replenishment of IDA 19.
She pointed out that it will be appropriate to see the IDA 19th cycle supporting the regional integration agenda actively and the horn of Africa region’s initiative concretely taken up in the programming of IDA.
She remarked that Ethiopia still has a long way to go to ensure poverty reduction strategies are successful. Despite substantial progress, many challenges remain. Similar to other countries in the region, large sections of the country’s population still live in poverty.
Intensifying progress on the 2030 agenda and the twin goals of reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity will require, among other things, more significant mobilization of finance and stronger global partnerships.
She mentioned that IDA remains a reliable and stable source of affordable funding to improve the wellbeing of the world’s poorest
The Ethiopian Herald June 23/2019
BY MEHARI BEYENE
