During an address to Parliament last week, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) said the federal government would cover the cost of a road corridor between Qality and Tulu Dimtu from its own coffers if the Export Import (Ex-Im) Bank of China fails to provide financing. The 10Km road is slated to be the most expensive ever built in Addis Abeba, with the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) contracted for a price tag of nearly 230 million Br a kilometre. The Ex-Im Bank has withheld the disbursement of 339 million dollars in loans as it conducts a review of the country's debt standing. Part of the financing was meant for the Qality road project. The Chinese Bank began the review after the Ethiopian government took the offer to become one of 73 countries eligible to re-negotiate payment of loans under an international initiative multilateral finance institutions took on debt servicing and suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an initiative later endorsed by G20 and Paris Club countries.
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