Ethiopia: PM says country suffers from forex crunch

ESAT News (April 17, 2018)

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister says his country has faced serious foreign cur crunch and called on Diaspora Ethiopians to lift their embargo on remittances they send home to their families.

Abiy Ahmed was speaking to businessmen in the capital on Monday. He said the foreign currency crisis was so serious that the country cannot bounce back for the next 15 years.

Dr. Ahmed said the Diaspora could use other ways of influencing the government than remittance embargo which he said was hurting the country’s economy.

Ethiopian activists abroad have called for remittance embargoes against the regime which they accused has used their money to oppress their people back home.

Ethiopians send an estimated 4 billion dollars every year in remittances.

He said the black market forex transactions, travel by officials abroad, offshore accounts and embezzlement have exacerbated the forex crisis.

The country loses about 3 billion dollars every year in illicit financial flows, according to the Global Financial Integrity and reports by other institutions.