Ethiopian Debt Policy: The Long Road from Paris Club to the MDGs

This case study looks at how Ethiopia has fundamentally changed the basis of its debt relief and new official development financing in recent years. It has done so by developing the national capacity to analyze debt issues and to design a national debt strategy, and by using this capacity to negotiate the best possible debt relief and new financing terms from its creditors. In addition, it has moved from being a passive recipient of whatever terms creditors were prepared to offer, to an active participant, setting its own agenda based on its needs for financing poverty reduction and reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).