IMF Cites 'Progress' in Ethiopia Talks

FILE: The International Monetary Fund headquarters building in Washington, D.C. Taken Mon, April 5, 2021.

NAIROBI -- The International Monetary Fund and Ethiopia made progress in talks on the fund's support for the country's economic reform program and discussions will continue in Washington next week, the fund said on Friday.

"We made progress in discussing the scope for IMF support for this reform program," Alvaro Piris, who led the IMF mission visit, said in a statement.

Officials from the IMF have been in Ethiopia since late March, when a fund spokesperson said they were doing technical work to prepare for potential IMF-supported assistance.

"Discussions will continue in Washington, DC, next week, in the context of the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, and in coming weeks,." Piris added.

In late March, the IMF said it welcomed the progress Ethiopia had made in restoring lasting peace and stability following an agreement in November to cease hostilities, including by the restoration of humanitarian assistance and basic services to the northern Tigray region.

Progress on the IMF program and Ethiopia's request for debt relief under the Group of 20 Common Framework was stalled in part because of the two-year conflict in Tigray, which killed tens of thousands of people.