Fiscal response to COVID-19 in Ethiopia 2020
Ethiopia announced a 1.64 billion U.S. dollars package as a fiscal response to the coronavirus pandemic. On April 3, 2020, the Ethiopian Prime Minister's office declared that a "COVID-19 Multi-Sectoral Preparedness and Response Plan" was put into effect, as a way to curb the impacts of the outbreak on the economy. The majority of the funds (635 million U.S. dollars) were directed towards emergency food distribution to around 15 million individuals exposed to food insecurity, which are not supported by the urban and rural Productive Safety Net Programme.
Moreover, 430 million U.S. dollars were set as a response to the health sector under a worst-case scenario of which the virus community spread exceeds 100 thousand cases. Spending on non-food and emergency shelters was the lowest share in the package, accounting for approximately 17.2% (282 million U.S. dollars) of the budget. As of October 19, 2020, more than 90 thousand COVID-19 cases were registered in Ethiopia.
Moreover, 430 million U.S. dollars were set as a response to the health sector under a worst-case scenario of which the virus community spread exceeds 100 thousand cases. Spending on non-food and emergency shelters was the lowest share in the package, accounting for approximately 17.2% (282 million U.S. dollars) of the budget. As of October 19, 2020, more than 90 thousand COVID-19 cases were registered in Ethiopia.
