(3 minutes read)
· Ethiopia’s Ministry of Trade has cut down fuel subsidies to 75 percent. This has marginally raised fuel prices and burden on the
consumers
· The Ethiopian government has spent 24.05 billion birr (over $608.5 million) for oil price subsidy in the last two years alone
· The Ethiopian government is also taking a few more steps for stabilizing prices of consumption goods during the coronavirus pandemic
Ethiopia’s Ministry of Trade has cut down fuel subsidies to 75 percent. This has marginally raised fuel prices and burden on the consumers. The Ethiopian government has spent 24.05 billion birr (over $608.5 million) for oil price subsidy in the last two years alone.
According to Kassahun Mulat, Pricing Research, Monitoring and Control Director at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the subsidy allocated for stabilizing fuel price has increased by more than 1.5 billion birr in December 2020. This had prompted the government to go for the cut in subsidy.
The Ethiopian government is also taking a few more steps for stabilizing prices of consumption goods during the coronavirus pandemic. It may be noted that the Ethiopian government is taking various steps for reforming the economy and to push the private sector to the forefront. It wants to keep the government’s role in critical segments and the rest would be opened to the private sector. In most of the African countries, there is an overwhelming presence of the government sector, which is being progressively dismantled.
