\n The agreement, signed in Rome on March 18 by Finance Minister Ahmed Shide and Italy\u2019s Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, forms part of the G20 Common Framework, a global initiative designed to help countries restructure unsustainable debt.\n <\/p>\n
\n It follows a July 2025 agreement in principle between Ethiopia and its official creditors, which unlocked more than $3.5 billion in expected debt relief. The Italy deal is the second bilateral agreement under that process and signals gradual progress after years of slow negotiations.\n <\/p>\n
\n Ethiopia sought debt treatment in 2021 as rising external debt, foreign exchange shortages, and shocks from conflict and the pandemic strained its economy. The pressure culminated in a eurobond default in December 2023, placing the country among a growing list of emerging markets facing debt distress.\n <\/p>\n
\n While Ethiopia remains one of Africa\u2019s fastest-growing economies, expanding by about 8.1 per cent in 2023\/2024, the recovery is uneven. Inflation has stayed elevated at around 17.5 per cent, and persistent dollar shortages continue to disrupt imports and business activity.\n <\/p>\n
\n The government has since launched reforms backed by the International Monetary Fund, including currency adjustments and tighter fiscal policy, aimed at restoring stability and making its debt sustainable.\n <\/p>\n
\n Italy said the agreement aligns with these reforms and also supports its Mattei Plan for Africa, under which Ethiopia is a priority partner for investment and cooperation.\n <\/p>\n
\n The deal is expected to support talks with other creditors, as Ethiopia pushes to secure comparable terms and complete a full restructuring of its external debt.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The agreement, signed in Rome on March 18 by Finance Minister Ahmed Shide and Italy\u2019s Economy Minister Giancarlo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-337774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}