Speech

Contextualizing Ethiopia’s Recent Economic Performance

Keynote Address by Abebe Aemro Selassie, Director, Africa Department, IMF at the 17th International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy Ethiopian Economics Association, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

July 18, 2019

    Introduction

    Good morning.
     
    Let me start with two caveats.
    • First, these are my views and not those of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) nor its Executive Board.
    • Second, it has been some 25 years since I last lived here. And here I am, in front of this august assembly of our country’s celebrated economists to tell you what you likely know very well already.

    In keeping with our country’s tradition of hospitality, I hope you will forgive the hubris that this entails and allow me to proceed with my presentation.

    Known knowns. As I have been reading and learning more about Ethiopia’s economy and preparing this address, there seem to be two important points on which there is broad agreement:

    • Over the last 25 years, Ethiopia has made incredibly important development progress, underpinned by rapid economic growth.
    • Of late however significant macroeconomic imbalances have emerged.

    My aim today is threefold:

    •  To put this progress into an international perspective. This comparative perspective is in many ways what the IMF is good at.
    • Second, to consider the factors that have contributed to this success;
    • Finally, I will turn my thoughts on how the challenges that have emerged might be addressed.
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