ADDIS ABABA, April 11 -- The Ethiopian government on Thursday announced that it has generated 617 million U.S. dollars from the export of selected agricultural products in eight months.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration, in a press statement, disclosed that the revenue was earned from the export of commodities monitored by the ministry such as soybean, red kidney beans, mung beans and sesame seed.

The ministry, which initially planned to generate some 705 million U.S. dollars export revenue during the first eight months of the current Ethiopian 2023/24 fiscal year that started on July 8, said the 617 million U.S. dollars export earning accounts for 87.51 percent of the initial target.

Data from the ministry show that the reported export revenue has registered an increase of about 80 million U.S. dollars as compared to the same period of the previous Ethiopian 2022/23 fiscal year.

The ministry attributed the increase in export performance this year to mounting demand for the East African country's major agricultural export commodities as well as an increase in the country's sesame seed production output.

  - Xinhua