Ethiopia’s central bank, National Bank of Ethiopia, disclosed the nations import bill has reached 11.7 Billion USD in the first 9 months of the current fiscal year. This is an 8 percent decline when compared to the same period from last year.

This was disclosed at a time when Ethiopia is hit by a shortage of foreign currency and surge of oil price in the international market. According to Fortune, the amount of foreign currency spent for the import of oil has increased by 29 percent due to a significant surge in the international market.

The export bill on the other hands shows Ethiopia earned 2 billion USD from the export of goods. This shows a trade deficit of 9.7 billion USD. The Horn of Africa country only managed to finance 17 percent of the import bill.

Export’s contribution to the GDP is insignificant. Between 2010 and 2015, export contribution to the GDP averaged 13 percent, decline of 2 percent every year.

Source: Fortune