Addis Ababa — The Council of Ministers, in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have begun evaluating performance, reviewing achievements against plans activities performed over the past six months.

A report was presented on the performance of the major macroeconomic indicators of six months the fiscal year.

Minister of Planning and Development, Fitsum Asefa who presented the report recalled that Ethiopia's economy registered a 6.4 percent growth previously, in the 2014 Fiscal Year; and this year, 7.5 percent growth will be registered based on the projection of the six-month performance.

She explained that the results obtained in the major macroeconomic indicators in the six months of the fiscal year are indicative to the attainment of the projected growth.

The minister stated that the agricultural sector is in the forefront in sustaining the growth, registering 6.7 percent in the last six months.

Fitsum also stated that the agricultural sector supports the growth of the export trade, making significant contribution to the growth of the macro economy.

The industrial sector, which had faced several challenges due to internal problems and external pressures in the last two years, has recorded better performance this year, the minister said.

Fitsum added that the sector has withstood many challenges in the last six months and registered a growth of 8.2 percent.

Domestic revenue from tax and non-tax sources is also among the top performers, she revealed.

The minister pointed out that 222 billion birr of domestic revenue was obtained from tax and non-tax sources in six months, showing an increase of 28.9 percent compared to same period last year.

Despite slight decline in export performance, the sector generated 1.8 billion dollars in revenue, which is 77 percent of the target, the minister stated.

The minister elaborated that unpredictability of prices of products in the world market, the proliferation of illegal trade and smuggling, bottlenecks in the trade chain and other related problems are the challenges of the export trade.

During the stated period, some 1.9 billion USD worth Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) has been made in the middle of the fiscal year, she said, adding that this will play a significant role in revitalizing the industrial sector.

She added that in the first six months of the fiscal year, 1.5 million jobs were created nationwide.