Ethiopia's Ministry of Finance and Economic Development said on Saturday that the country's foreign currency reserve went down by 19.1 percent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

The ministry said in a report that the recent decline is attributed to the increasing price of petroleum products and other imported goods.

In 2004 and 2005, the amount of foreign currency reserve increased by 4.2 and 8.1 percent respectively, it said.

According to the report, the country earned 647.8 million U.S. dollars from the export trade during the nine months since July 2005.

This shows a 34 percent increase when compared to the amount of foreign currency earned from the products exported last year during the same period.

The foreign currency earnings from coffee, skins and hides, oilseeds and horticulture have increased substantially. On the other hand, the foreign currency earnings from fruits, vegetables, and gold have dwindled.

At present, the country's foreign currency reserve of 1.2 billion dollars is sufficient to cover the country's imports of goods for three months, the ministry said.

Source: Xinhua