Ethiopia's Ministry of Finance announced that it has decided to allow the import of basic food items on a Franco Valuta basis, without requiring any foreign exchange permits. The items include cooking oil, wheat, sugar, milk, and rice. The Ministry said in a statement it has come to the decision following several requests from the Ethiopian diaspora to play their part in easing the current inflation and helping address the rising cost of living. It has also related the decision has been communicated to the Customs Commission in a letter written on April 8, 2022.
The relevant stakeholders have been informed to perform a strict follow-up and monitoring to make sure the measure is implemented rightly, the Ministry further noted. The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration had just recently made known that it has waived tax amounting to 27 billion birr to allow entry of essential goods tax-free.