Peace Dividend

Ethiopia: Domestic debt can be a remedy for Eurobond stress

By Hawi Dadhi

Reserved for subscribers

Posted on January 26, 2023 15:07

© Ethiopia’s State Finance Minister Eyob Tekalign attends the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, U.S., October 15, 2022. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan — Ethiopia’s State Finance Minister Eyob Tekalign attends the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, U.S., October 15, 2022. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan

Ethiopia’s fledgling market in debt securities is helping to improve the sustainability of public debt even as the share of domestic debt increases, analysts say.

Domestic debt is now higher than external debt for the first time in over a decade, analysis from the ministry of finance shows. Public-sector domestic debt, including that of state-owned enterprises, has now reached $30bn (Br1.6trn) versus external debt of $26bn. The domestic debt stock has been growing by an average of 22% annually for the past three years.

There's more to this story

Get unlimited access to our exclusive journalism and features today. Our award-winning team of correspondents and editors report from over 54 African countries, from Cape Town to Cairo, from Abidjan to Abuja to Addis Ababa. Africa. Unlocked.

Subscribe Now

cancel anytime

Already a a subscriber Sign In

More Business

© Tanzania is constructing the Central Corridor Standard Gauge Railway. (photo: twitter)

missing links

Tanzania’s Standard Gauge Railway: Most advanced, but victim of minor private sector investment Tanzania’s standard gauge railway project – that seeks to open up quicker transport corridors towards the vast hinterland of Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, and...

Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, in Paris on 10 November 2021. © Damien Grenon for JA

leverage accelerator

AfDB tackles climate change at annual meeting in Sharm al-Sheikh More than 4,000 people have travelled to Egypt to attend the 58th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and ...

© Eskom technicians perform maintenance in Villiers, South Africa, on May 10, 2023. (Shiraaz MOHAMED / AFP)

Electric shock

South Africa prepares for the worst in load shedding It only took one statement to bring South Africa’s Eskom shares into the red. On Thursday, 18 May, Calib Cassim, acting CEO of the publicly-run nation...

© The International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters building in Washington, U.S., April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

money matters

African Debt: Three proposals to reform the SDR system Hanan Morsy, Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), shares insights on new proposa...