Following the severe drought that hit Ethiopia, the country will not be able to meet its projected 11 % economic growth for the current fiscal year. It will expand only by between 7% and 10%.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn noted, “The economy will continue to register growth, if not a double-digit fast economic growth”.

The premier also explained agricultural growth will be less than 11%, which was the projection. According to him the El Nino weather phenomenon reduced rains last year across eastern areas of the country.

The drought, which is said to be the worst in 50 years, has left almost one-fifth of the nation’s population in need of food aid and 400,000 people facing severe malnutrition.

For the past 10 years Ethiopia has been registering an economic growth which is more than 10% a year. In the previous fiscal year it managed a 10.2% growth.

Prior to the effects the droughts were known, International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected Ethiopia’s economy will grow by 8.1% for the current fiscal year. It also noted the increase for the previous 12 months was 8.7%.

According to Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation data, in the previous year agriculture contributed 39% of Ethiopia’s gross domestic product.

Source: Bloomberg