Government Measures Taken to Reduce Inflation Bearing Fruits: Researcher

The multiple measures taken by the government of Ethiopia to reduce inflation bring forth the tangible results, an economist and researcher at Policy Research Institute, Brehanu Alemu remarked.Ethiopia's Minister of Trade and Regional Integration, Kassahun Goffe reported that the measures being taken by the government to curb the existing challenges of inflation will be intensified to further reduce it from the current level.According to scholars, over circulation of bank notes in the economy, the disparity between demand and supply and other reasons exacerbate inflation. As a result, the government of Ethiopia is taking multiple and integrated measures to reduce the level of inflation in Ethiopia.Talking to ENA, Brehanu Alemu, Economist and Researcher at Ethiopian Policy Research Institute stressed on the importance of multiple measures to reduce inflation in a more tangible manner.Increasing interest rates and encouraging the culture of savings among the population will help to siphon in money into the banks is one of the measures vital to curb inflation, the scholar noted.Selling government treasury bonds as a means of drawing out money from the economy is another alternative to reduce inflation along with increasing interest rates curb the circulation of unnecessary money, he added.The government is taking a number of alternative measures to resolve the skyrocketing of inflation with tangible results, Brehanu further noted based on some statistical evidences.The scholar explained that compared to the pervious year, this year's inflation on food and non-food commodities have slightly been reduced from 23 percent in May to 19.9 per cent at the current period.He added that the efforts made in the 'Bounty of the Basket' development initiative along with other measures being taken in to enhance agricultural productivity have helped to reduce the gap between supply and demand contributing to the reduction of inflation in the food market.The 'Bounty of the Basket' is a development program initiated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to increase the productivity of milk, poultry and meat production.The efforts made by consumer cooperatives in the country in supplying food items with more reasonable prices was also instrumental in helping to reduce inflation in the sector, the scholar further remarked.Minister of Trade and Regional Integration, Kassahun Goffe for his part stated that efforts made in the country to further increase production and productivity has made commendable contributions in reducing inflation.Dry season irrigations schemes for wheat production launched by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed along with various development endeavors including the 'Bounty of the Basket' has been instrumental in bringing the desired results in reducing inflation.The minister further affirmed the commitment of the government to curb the economic challenges of inflation to a lower level.Local consumer associations have been contributing a lot to reduce the exiting inflation by supplying agricultural and industrial products to the consumers.Source: Ethiopian News Agency