The Ethiopian government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a staff-level agreement on the fifth review of the $3.4 billion four-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement, the IMF announced today.
The agreement came after an IMF team led by Álvaro Piris discussed the fifth review of the ECF with Ethiopian authorities in Addis Ababa from May 6–2026.
This agreement, pending approval by the IMF Executive Board, will make available USD 468 million, bringing the total support under the ECF arrangement to USD 2. 651 billion , the IMF said in a statement.
Piris was quoted as saying: “Output indicators, exports, reserves, and government revenue all continued to improve through early 2026, alongside declines in inflation. The war in the Middle East was a significant external shock that disrupted trade, causing temporary fuel shortages and sharp increases in the price of imported fuel and fertilizer. Even so, economic activity appears robust, with as-yet modest impacts on output growth and consumer price inflation.”
According to the IMF, the impact of the Middle East war, which pushed oil prices to levels not seen since the outbreak of the Russia–Ukraine war, has had a limited effect on output growth and inflation.
However, the IMF stated that to maintain macroeconomic stability, the government must continue efforts to make the foreign exchange market more transparent, strengthen domestic revenue mobilization, and manage public expenditure effectively.
