The COVID-19 pandemic has created large health and social needs and had a significant negative impact on economic activity. Program performance under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF) had gotten off to a good start, but the economic impact of, and policy response to, the pandemic has required a reprioritization of the near-term macroeconomic objectives. [1]At the conclusion of the mission, Ms. Jain-Chandra issued the following statement:“The Ethiopian authorities and IMF team have reached a staff-level agreement on policy measures for the completion of the first review under the ECF-EFF arrangements. “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant adverse impact on Ethiopia and created serious health and economic challenges. In support of the authorities’ pandemic response, the IMF disbursed US $412 million of emergency financing in April through its Rapid Financing Instrument.

Source: Ethiopian News August 21, 2020 15:00 UTC