Over the summer, I had the chance to work with the Growth Lab (GL) at Harvard’s Center for International Development (CID) on the Advancing Economic Diversification in Ethiopia project. One of the main reasons I chose to pursue the MPA/ID program at HKS is that I was a counterpart for the GL in my previous work. As such, it was a primary focus of mine to get immersed in the GL work during my time at HKS to get a...
As an intern with the Growth Lab, I was working with the National Bank of Ethiopia on macroeconomic issues. Ethiopia has achieved rapid economic growth from the early 2000s, alongside large capital account and fiscal deficits (when the deficit is broadly defined). In spite of this situation where depreciation would be necessary to clear excess demand for FX, the exchange rate has not been devalued in a manner consistent with the level of deficit monetization. The exchange rate control, together with restrictions on financial account...
