Washington, United States, June 3, 2026 (AFP)
The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday reached a staff-level agreement to release $468 million in bailout funds to Ethiopia, with the multilateral lender citing strong macroeconomic performance but warning of acute impacts due to the Middle East war.
Ethiopia has an ongoing IMF program of roughly $3.4 billion, approved in July 2024, and the latest tranche is being released after completion of that loan's fifth review.
The agreement is subject to approval by the IMF's executive board.
"The authorities have continued to make progress in implementing their Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda, with favorable macroeconomic outcomes through to the onset of the war in the Middle East," said the IMF's Alvaro Piris, who led the organization's mission to Ethiopia last month.
"Output indicators, exports, reserves and government revenue all continued to improve through early 2026, alongside declines in inflation."
Piris warned, however, that the war -- launched by the United States and Israel on Iran in late February -- was "a significant external shock" that caused sharp increases in fuel and fertilizer prices.
"Even so, economic activity appears robust, with as-yet modest impacts on output growth and consumer price inflation," he said.
Despite the challenges, the International Monetary Fund expects the economy in Africa's second-most populous country to grow by more than nine percent this year -- one of the fastest rates in the world -- largely thanks to infrastructure and industrial investments.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party (PP) was projected to win by a landslide in elections that took place this week. Results are expected by June 11.
Abiy, who has ruled the Horn of Africa nation of 130 million since 2018, is criticized for growing authoritarianism, in contrast to his early years when he won the Nobel Peace Prize for mending relations with neighboring Eritrea.
Abiy has made tentative steps to open up the economy, which has boosted exports, but Ethiopia still faces huge debt, high inflation and a poverty rate around 40 percent.

Sumber : AFP