{"id":1810,"date":"2026-07-27T12:56:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/?p=1810"},"modified":"2026-07-27T12:56:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T12:56:38","slug":"ethiopias-economic-pivot-how-currency-reform-unlocked-a-record-10-7bn-in-exports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/ethiopias-economic-pivot-how-currency-reform-unlocked-a-record-10-7bn-in-exports\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia\u2019s economic pivot: how currency reform unlocked a record $10.7bn in exports"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Miwodew Muluye<\/em><\/p>\n

Addis Ababa, (AMECO)- For decades, rigid foreign exchange controls and heavy import reliance constrained Ethiopia\u2019s foreign trade balance. That trajectory shifted in July 2024 when the government abandoned its 30-year-old crawling-peg system in favour of a market-determined floating exchange rate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The reform restored trade competitiveness, driving annual export earnings from under $3bn before the liberalisation to a record $10.7bn in 2025-26<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Multilateral backing<\/h2>\n

The macroeconomic float was anchored by substantial international financial support:<\/p>\n

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    International Monetary Fund:<\/b> A $3.4bn Extended Credit Facility to support foreign exchange float and macroeconomic stabilisation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    World Bank:<\/b> A $1bn Development Policy Operation targeted at trade competitiveness and structural reform.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Export revenue trajectory<\/h2>\n

    Market-rate incentives drove consecutive years of rapid export growth:<\/p>\n

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      2023-24:<\/b> $3.8bn (baseline prior to liberalisation)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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      2024-25:<\/b> $8.3bn (initial post-float adjustment)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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      2025-26:<\/b> $10.7bn<\/b> (record high, up 29% year-on-year and beating annual targets by 14%)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Key export drivers<\/h2>\n
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        Gold surge:<\/b> Aided by market exchange rates and a 45% surge in international prices, gold became the single largest foreign exchange earner, generating $5.5bn<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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        Record coffee sales:<\/b> Coffee export value reached $3bn<\/b> in 2025-26, accounting for roughly 28% of total national export receipts.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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        Manufacturing and industrial parks:<\/b> Exports from state-supported industrial parks reached a record $266.9m<\/b>, driven by product diversification into electronics and solar panels.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Economic outlook and risks<\/h2>\n
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          Balance-of-payments gains:<\/b> Gross foreign exchange reserves more than doubled to exceed $3.4bn<\/b>, while headline inflation fell to 9.7%<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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          Commodity concentration:<\/b> Gold ($5.5bn) and coffee ($3bn) account for 78% of total export receipts<\/b>, leaving foreign exchange earnings vulnerable to international price shocks.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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          Artisanal dependence:<\/b> Gold volumes remain heavily dependent on small-scale artisanal mining rather than commercial industrial capacity.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          By Miwodew Muluye Addis Ababa, (AMECO)- For decades, rigid foreign exchange controls and heavy import reliance constrained Ethiopia\u2019s foreign trade balance. That trajectory shifted in July 2024 when the government abandoned its 30-year-old crawling-peg system in favour of a market-determined floating exchange rate. The reform restored trade competitiveness, driving annual export earnings from under $3bn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[497],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[1054,426,916,529,1313,1043],"class_list":["post-1810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1810"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1814,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions\/1814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1810"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameco.et\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}