World Bank to give Ethiopia $1 bln in budget help - PM

ADDIS ABABA - 26 August 2018: The World Bank will provide $1 billion in direct budget support to Ethiopia in the next few months, the prime minister said on Saturday, after the bank and other donors suspended budgetary help after a disputed and violent election in 2005.

"This is due to the reforms taking place in the country," Abiy Ahmed, who has announced a series of economic and political changes since taking office in April, told a news conference in which he announced the World Bank decision.

The prime also promised free elections in 2020 for the nation of 100 million people, where parliament now has no opposition lawmakers.