President Dr. Mulatu Teshome condemned the border clash between Somali and Oromia region of Ethiopia, which claimed dozens of life and displaced thousands of people living in these two regions.
The President made this remark today while opening the joint session of the House of People Representatives and House of Federation.
The President said that border conflict “should be absolutely condemned” and border issues anywhere else in the country should be addressed peacefully before facing their negative consequences.
According to him, the government is working to arrest rabble-rousers, who have triggered violence in both regions.
The president also urged people of two regions to work towards restoring peace.
The president also addressed the joint session on range of issues including the economy progress the country has made since beginning of second GTP, anti- corruption clamp down, election, political party negotiation, and on possible financial reforms.
The anti-corruption clamp down the country set off two months ago, will continue involving the people as one of the top priority of the government during this year, the president said.
The government will work to improve the execution capacity of leaders to boost the political and democratic participation of the people said president, urging civil servants at lower structure of the government to be cooperative and stand up to the demand of the people.
The president said that the country's economy has been growing with service, industry sector and manufacturing sector exhibit growth against the fall short of the agriculture sector due unprecedented drought.
Otherwise, he said that last year the industry, manufacturing, and service sectors have exhibited a growth record, which exceeded that of the previous year.
The country economy is expected to grow by 11.1 percent this year.
The president said that the government has managed inflation to be single digit by adjusting fiscal policies meant to contain the ever growing trend.
According to him, budget deficit the country witnessed this year is 2.5 percent, which could be filled with domestic sources as per the fiscal mechanisms.
He also said that government has been preparing tax reforms to boost the volume of the tax revenue.
According to him, the tax the country collects has so far witnessed as not as equivalent as the economy generates even though tax revenue collected last year has shown increment compared to that of the previous year.
Lack of foreign currency has remained one of the pressing challenges in the country, he said urging the need to increase the quality and quantity of export items including sesame, coffee and livestock.
The president also noted that infrastructure and social service development need increased government intervention.