Urban Economy and Role of the Town
 The town serves as tourism, administration, agriculture and commercial center. There are five manufacturing industries; one wholesale trade; 53 service trades; one fuel station and six garages in the town. Abay, Construction and Business Bank, and Commercial Bank of Ethiopia financial institutions are found in the town.

The annual revenue of the municipality in 2012 was 600‚000 Birr. The major sources of revenue were land lease, tax‚ property tax, income tax and advertisement. The major investment opportunities in the town are:- agriculture‚ agro industry‚ trade‚ hotel and tourism

Gilgal Beles town has economic linkages with the surrounding areas Bahirdar and Addis Ababa. The town gets grain products, livestock supply, natural resources (fuel wood, charcoal), construction materials, surplus labor and financial institution from Mandura while agricultural inputs, manufacturing and commercial products from Addis Ababa.