Ethiopia exports up 48 pct in 8 months
Tigrai Online
April. 06 2011
ADDIS ABABA, April 5 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's exports rose 48 percent in the eight months to March, its prime minister said, rallying after Africa's biggest coffee exporter missed its revenue target in first-half 2010/11.
Though still one of the world's poorest nations, Ethiopia has posted double-digit growth rates for six consecutive years, according to government figures, making it Africa's fastest growing non-oil producer.
The country targets $939.5 million in coffee exports this year, nearly double the $528 million it earned during the 2009/2010 fiscal year.
Ethiopia devalued its birr currency ETB= by 16.7 percent in September last year to bolster competitiveness, the fourth such move since 2009.
Zenawi said last month that the devaluation had boosted exports in the past six months and helped narrow the country's burgeoning trade gap, although analysts have expressed concern the devaluation may risk importing inflation.
Officials had set a goal of $1.29 billion in revenue for the first half of the financial year (July-Dec), but its earnings by the end of that period met 86 percent of that at $1.11 billion.