By Bruck Shewareged | The Reporter
In response to the current world economic crisis which is putting a big pressure on developing economies, the World Bank (WB) is set to increase its assistance to Ethiopia to USD 1 billion, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia and Sudan Ken Ohashi said yesterday.
In a roundtable discussion he held with local journalist, yesterday, Mr. Ohashi said that the amount of money to be available to Ethiopia is 30 percent more that what the Bank was initially contemplating.
The money will be available starting from the beginning of July, which is the start of the next fiscal year for the World Bank.
Mr. Ohashi said that the Bank is seriously considering to increase the amount of financial resources available to African countries who are beginning to feel the pinch from the current global economic crises.
He said that it was unfortunate for African countries to suffer from the crisis which was not of their own making.
Ohashi said that it was up to each African country to take measures extricate itself from this problem.
The World Bank assistance alone cannot bring change, he noted.
“Unfortunately, the burden of adjustment falls on the African countries themselves,” he said.
He added that inflation in Ethiopia seemed to go down compared to twelve months before.
“Last July, the inflation was out of control as it stood at 64 percent. This time it is not at least out of control,” he said.