The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) said that official receipt of remittance to Ethiopia grew to 1.5 billion dollars in the fiscal year to 8 July 2011, registering an 88 percent increase over its value in the previous year.

In spite of discrepancies for years between World Bank's estimates and that of NBE, the National Bank of Ethiopia for the first time confirmed the receipt of 1.5 billion dollars.

According the central bank's record, 789.5 million dollar was collected from Ethiopian citizens and foreigners based in Ethiopia over the last fiscal year in the form of private transfer.

However, an independent assessment has always put the figure above the country's foreign exchange earnings, accounting for informal channels.

Remittance to Ethiopia has been growing at the rate of 38 percent a year for the last five years according to Alemayehu Kebede, director of Change Management and Communications Directorate at NBE.

The Bank said that the growth in remittance had an indirect impact on the inflation rate over the last fiscal year. The bank explained that although the transfer was not directly connected to inflation, it could exert pressure on money supply.

Source: The Reporter