Ethiopia’s total public debt has reached USD 51.8 billion, with domestic borrowing showing an increase, the Ministry of Finance said.
The figure was disclosed during the Ministry’s nine-month performance report presentation to the House of Peoples’ Representatives Standing Committee on Planning, Budget and Finance. Finance Minister Ahmed Shide told the committee that out of Ethiopia’s total debt stock, USD 33.5 billion is external debt, while USD 18.3 billion is domestic debt.
According to the report, of the USD 33.5 billion external debt, USD 22.1 billion is owed by the federal government, while the remaining USD 11.5 billion is debt held by state-owned enterprises.
The domestic debt stock is also largely held by the federal government. Out of the USD 18.3 billion in domestic debt, USD 17.5 billion is federal government debt, while around USD 0.8 billion is attributed to state-owned enterprises.
The Ministry said the decline in the debt burden of state-owned enterprises is partly linked to the government’s broader macroeconomic reform measures. As part of these reforms, many loans previously borrowed from commercial banks by state-owned enterprises have been transferred to the Ministry of Finance and are now being serviced through the federal budget.
Ahmed Shide acknowledged that domestic borrowing has increased and said the government will work to address the issue by following sustainable public finance principles.
Regarding debt repayment performance, the Ministry reported that Birr 463.4 billion had been allocated for domestic and external debt repayment during the 2025/26 fiscal year. Over the first nine months of the fiscal year, Birr 226.5 billion, including debt service payments, has already been paid.
On external resource mobilization, the government had planned to secure USD 4 billion from various institutions during the 2025/26 fiscal year. For the first nine months, the target was USD 3.1 billion, but the amount secured stood at USD 2 billion, falling short of the plan by USD 1.1 billion.
This means the government achieved 65.1 percent of its planned external financing target for the nine-month period. Of the funding secured, USD 914.2 million came from the World Bank.
The Ministry said foreign exchange inflows are expected to improve in the coming months. Ahmed noted that during recent meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in the United States, Ethiopia received positive responses regarding budget support, disaster response financing, and fuel reform support.
The Minister also said the suspension of U.S. aid had created pressure on activities in health, education, agriculture, and capacity building. However, he stated that Ethiopia has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. government to mobilize more than USD 1 billion annually.
The agreement is expected to be submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval soon.
Source: Sheger FM 102.1
