From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Apr 14 2009 - 14:16:23 EDT
Ethiopia to boost arms production - PM
April 14 2009 at 06:42PM
Addis Ababa - Ethiopia will boost arms production to cut weapons imports and
save its dwindling foreign exchange, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said.
"Our main objective is to reduce our defence expenditure and its pressure on
availability of foreign exchange," Meles told reporters late on Monday,
without giving details.
"In order to do that, we have to reduce our imports and improve our exports.
The objective is to take care of our defence requirements, primarily in
terms of ammunition and partly in terms of armaments."
Ethiopia currently produces assault rifles, rocket propelled grenades, small
arms and hosts an assembly plant to manufacture tanks.
The country's foreign reserves this month stood at $800-million (about
R7-billion), down from two billion dollars in 2008.
The Horn of Africa country has one of the largest armies in Africa and last
year increased its defence budget by $50-million to $400-million for
"stability reasons."
Ethiopia's army is estimated to comprise around 200 000 soldiers and imports
arms mainly from China and eastern European countries.
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