Partial Privatization of Ethiopian Airlines Suspended

Ethiopia’s Finance Ministry has announced that the proposed partial privatization of Africa’s biggest and leading aviation company, Ethiopian Airlines, has been put on hold.
The move comes just after the same measures were recently taken to also hold the planned privatization of Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise.
While presenting Ethiopia’s Finance Ministry’s three-month performance report in a press conference yesterday, the country’s Finance Minister Ahmed Shide said the plan is put suspend the privatization move as the company continues to be profitable and competitive in the global aviation industry.
“We do not believe that this is the time to privatize the company while it appears robust,” he said.
He further added that even during the challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Airline has remained vibrant and afloat. Ahmed said Ethiopian Airline is brand carrier and has made investments in hotels and other services.
Meanwhile, the Ministry forecast Ethiopian economy to register 8.5 percent growth in the 2013 budget year.
With the implementation of home grown economy alongside several measures that have been taken to reduce the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s economy has still shown a significant growth.
The Minister stressed that while the pressure of inflation and foreign currency still loomed, the government will continue to implement the combined fiscal and monetary policy.
The various measures that were taken on fiscal, monetary and other administrative actions to further reduce the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, have a significant contribution to maintaining the economy.
More than 80 Billion Birr was collected from government revenue- tax and non-tax revenues- loan and grant. Close to 500 million USD was generated from export market in the first three months of the Ethiopian budget year. Improving the incentive packages, excise tax and custom related issues have taken the lion’s share for the better performance, as to him.