ADDIS ABABA, Dec 24: The Ethiopian government said on Monday it was banking on an eight per cent growth in coffee harvests for the coming season.

The agriculture ministry said in a statement it hoped to harvest 360,000 tons during the coming season, 220,000 of which are destined for export.

The statement said 320,000 tons were reaped during the 2007 fiscal year, 176,000 of which were exported all over the world.

Coffee accounts for 60 per cent of the Horn of Africa nation’s export revenues and is the largest source of foreign currencies, ahead of flowers and oil seeds.

Ethiopia is the world’s sixth coffee producer and the first in Africa.—AFP