Ethiopia Economic Growth Will Beat IMF Forecast, Minister Says

Ethiopia’s deputy prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, dismissed forecasts that economic growth would slow sharply this year and next and that monetary policy was pushing up inflation, saying growth may exceed 10 percent.

Expansion won’t drop below 9 percent in the fiscal year to July 7, 2012, from 11.4 percent this year, Hailemariam, who is also the minister of foreign affairs, said in an interview at the Ethiopian Embassy in London yesterday. International Monetary Fund data show the economy has expanded an average of 11 percent over the past seven years.