2merkato

On September 18, 2013, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Recent macroeconomic developments are encouraging, with a significant deceleration in inflation and continued robust economic growth.

Despite significant decline in coffee prices and supply bottlenecks, growth remains robust, supported by better agriculture output and construction and other services activities. Inflation declined from the peak of 40 percent in July 2011 to around 7 percent in June 2013. This has significantly eased the extent to which real interest rates were negative. Pressures resulting in foreign exchange shortages in the wake of the passing away of Prime Minister Meles have eased.

The need for strong weather and climate services to reduce vulnerability and promote sustainable development will be addressed by the Third Annual Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-III) (http://www.climdev-africa.org/ccda3) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 21 – 23 October, 2013.

Ethiopian Airlines, the fastest growing and most customer service driven airline in Africa, was chosen as Service Quality Institute's Worldwide Customer Service Leader in Istanbul Turkey on 12 October during the awards banquet at the Worldwide Customer Service Conference.

CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam received the award.

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) is drafting a regulatory framework for the Payment, Settlement & Clearing System operators, Fortune reported.

The directive will be applicable to companies, such as Premiere Switch Solutions (PSS), established by Awash, Nib and United banks in 2011, for the joint use ATMs and Point of Sale (POS) terminals. Recently, Berhan International and Addis International banks have joined PSS.

Ethiopia marked World Standards Day 2013 on October 14, 3013, under the theme, “International Standards Ensure Positive change.”

The day was marked for the 17th times in Ethiopia and 44th times globally, Communications and Public Relations Head at the Ethiopian Standards Agency told Walta Information Center.

The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), is to switch to online trading in the third quarter of the current fiscal year, capital reported.

Currently, the exchange conducts physical trading from its headquarters located at Mexico Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Ethiopia's Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) announced, Ethiopia economy grew 9.7 percent during the 2012/13 fiscal year, Capital reported.

According to the Ministry's press release, agriculture registered a 7.1 percent growth, while industry and service sectors registered a 18.5 and 9.9 percent growth respectively.

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) announced, that it is studying the possibility of establishing a stock market in Ethiopia.

NBE made the announcement during a discussion held on Tuesday October 8, 2013 at the Hilton Hotel, attended by experts from the financial sector and representative of the central bank.

Airline Business Magazine, a publication of Flight Global ranked Ethiopian Cargo 43rd by revenue out of the top 100 global operators, Capital reported.

Ethiopian Cargo was also ranked 49th by traffic by the same magazine.

Addis International Bank joined Premier Switch Solutions, a payment processing operator allowing a joint use of ATMs and point of sale devices by its member banks, Fortune reported.

Addis acquired shares in Premier Switch Solutions worth 4.8 million birr last month and is waiting the launch of its CORE banking system to access the services of Premier Switch Solutions.