Ethiopia

Government and institution measures in response to COVID-19.

General measures | Tax measures – Direct and Indirect | Employment- related measures | Economic stimulus measures | Other measures and sources

Return to homepage | Last updated: 24 June, 2020

General Information

The COVID-19 outbreak is having major effects on the economy in Ethiopia. To mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak to the economy, the Government of Ethiopia has launched various economic measures that are outlined below.

Tax measures – Direct and Indirect

(e.g. payment deferrals, rate reductions…)

Click to see a comprehensive summary of jurisdictional tax measures and government reliefs in response to COVID-19.

Employment-related measures

(e.g. state compensation schemes, training…)

On April 30, the Council of Ministers approved another set of economic measures to support firms and employment. These include:
Forgiveness of all tax debt prior to 2014/2015,
A tax amnesty on interest and penalties for tax debt pertaining to 2015/2016-2018/2019,
Exemption from personal income tax withholding for 4 months for firms who keep paying employee salaries despite not being able to operate due to Covid-19.

Economic stimulus measures

(e.g. loans, moratorium on debt repayments…)

The central bank has provided 15 billion birr (0.45 percent of GDP) of additional liquidity to private banks to facilitate debt restructuring and prevent bankruptcies.
It has also provided 33 billion birr of additional liquidity to the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.

Other measures and sources

Main sources of information

International monetary fund