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Nov 2 , 2025

Brewed Buck Eases as Banks Shadow Central Bank Rate in Tight Formation

The Birr (Brewed Buck) spent the past week on a mild slide before steadying, a move that unfolded in near-perfect step with the National Bank of Ethiopia's (NBE) shifting reference rate and left commercial banks bunched tightly beneath the policy marker by the weekend. Across six trading days, fr...

Oct 26 , 2025

Banks Tighten in Unison as Forex Rates Edge Toward New Equilibrium

The Birr (Brewed Buck) has been walking down a narrow slope for months, sliding a little each week as monetary policymakers test how far they can let it fall without stoking a new burst of inflation. The National Bank of Ethiopia's (NBE) reference rate crossed 150 Br to the dollar last week and kept rising, an unmistakable signal from the Central Bank that a gentler, policy-managed depreciation is underway, and that the formal market should inch toward levels already accepted on the street. Four consecutive weeks of decline speak to the chronic shortage of hard currency and the steady pu...

Oct 18 , 2025

In Fragmented March, Brewed Buck Slips as Banks Break Ranks

The Birr's (Brewed Buck) seemingly orderly 1.1pc depreciation last week belied a more fractured reality. While the Central Bank's policy glide path continues to maintain the illusion of stability, beneath the surface, the forex market is fragmenting. The once-coordinated top five private banks — Awash, Abyssinia, Dashen, Wegagen, and Zemen — have splintered in their responses to tightening liquidity and intensifying competition for hard currency. Oromia Bank, a mid-tier player in the industry, reemerged as a frontrunner, quoting 148.60 Br to the dollar, outbidding players like Amhara Ba...

Oct 12 , 2025

Birr Drift Exposes Cracks in Managed Market

The Brewed Buck slipped again last week, exposing the quiet tension between official oversight and the underlying market forces that have shaped the foreign exchange scene for months. Between October 6 and 11, 2025, commercial bank postings showed the average cash buying rate creeping upward by about 1.5 Br (1.05pc), ending the week at 143.5 Br to the dollar. Selling rates followed closely, reaching 146.3 Br. While the movement appeared modest on the surface, it revealed widening cracks beneath, the kind of heavily managed forex regime cannot paper over indefinitely. The most telling...

Money Market Watch

Oct 5 , 2025

Guided Descent of the Brewed Buck Signals a Managed Drift, Not a Market Slide

The Brewed Buck has been guided rather than left to wander, yet last week offered a textbook study in how quietly an exchange rate can slip when policymakers keep a firm hand on the wheel. In that...

Sep 27 , 2025

Birr Inches Forward on Forex Market as Policy Pulls Back

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) entered the foreign exchange market last week with a calibrated display of resolve. On Monday, September 22, 2025, it posted a buying rate of 145.89 Br to a dollar...

Sep 21 , 2025

CBE Holds the Line, Private Lenders Push the Edges

The Birr (Brewed Buck) spent the past week threading its way through a narrow but choppy stretch of the foreign-exchange market, giving banks a clear view of the pressures bubbling beneath the currenc...

Sep 14 , 2025

Amhara Bank Breaks Ranks as Forex Trend Unravels

The foreign-exchange market has rarely seen a week like the one that unfolded last week. A market usually defined by small and synchronised moves fractured when Amhara Bank blasted past convention, po...

Sep 7 , 2025

Birr Trades Quietly Through the Interlude

Forex trading opened without fuss on September 1, 2025, but signals from the top of the monetary system kept the banking industry alert. Beneath the surface of a calm foreign exchange market, treasury...

Aug 30 , 2025

Forex Market Holds the Line While Central Bank Redraws It

The foreign-exchange market spent last week's trading days walking a tightrope between the Central Bank's policy drives and commercial imperatives. For most private banks, including Awash, Dashen, Nib...

Aug 23 , 2025

Brewed Buck Drips Below Surface While Gaps Emerge Behind FX Facade

The foreign-exchange board inside commercial banks told two stories last week. On the surface, the Brewed Buck slipped gently against the Green Buck, obeying the two percent corridor the Central Bank...

Aug 17 , 2025

Policy Signals, Not Competition, Steer Forex Price Discovery

The Birr's (Brewed Buck) market against the Dollar (Green Buck) advanced in neat formation over six trading sessions last week. Private lenders marched almost shoulder to shoulder, policymakers fixed...

Aug 10 , 2025

Brewed Buck Glides Lower in Stage-Managed Move as Dollar Stays Unruffled

The Birr (Brewed Buck) spent last week edging lower against the Dollar (Green Buck) in a controlled and policy-led fashion, and one moment set the tone. The National Bank of Ethiopia's (NBE) foreign-e...

Aug 3 , 2025

A Year of Conditional Gains for Monetary Policy Reforms. But Endurance Remains the Test

The experiment with a freely traded Birr, or one managed in a floating manner in practice, was a year old last week, and the numbers tell a story of both promise and fragility. On July 29, 2024, Ce...

Jul 27 , 2025

A Year After Currency Float, the Central Bank Takes the Helm

This week marks the first anniversary of a daring departure from nearly five decades of tightly managed monetary policy. Since the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) opted to liberalise...

Jul 20 , 2025

Upstart Banks Pay Up for Dollars as Veterans Watch, CBE Sits Tight

It is unusual to see the BrewedBuck gain even a fraction of ground against the GreenBuck. Yet, last week, the Birr's steady slide briefly paused. On Saturday, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) poste...

Jul 13 , 2025

The Brewed Buck on the Boil as Banks Push Dollar Higher, Central Bank Holds Back

The Birr (the Brewed Buck) continued its slow retreat in the retail forex market last week, losing ground in quiet increments as commercial banks edged their dollar quotations higher. The panel averag...

Jul 6 , 2025

Behind Gentle Slide, the Brewed Buck Faces Mounting Strain in a Restrained Market

The Birr (Brewed Buck) edged lower against the Dollar (teh Green Buck) last week, a gentle slide that belies a deeper tightening of liquidity. Last week, the average buying rate posted by commercial b...

Jun 29 , 2025

Banks Stand Still While Currency Pressures Do the Running

The foreign exchange market moved little in the six trading days last week, but the calm surface concealed a handful of ripples. Across the banking industry, the average buying rate for the Dollar set...

Jun 21 , 2025

Banks Edge Rates as Birr Slides and Pretenses Hold the Line

The foreign exchange market tiptoed through last week, exposing small cracks in the managed currency regime. Posted quotes from more than a dozen commercial banks, set beside the National Bank of Ethi...

Columns

Commentaries | Nov 01,2025

Central Bank Misses the Mark on Forex Market Speculation

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) issued a statement two weeks ago that appeared to be a...

Editorial | Nov 1 , 2025

They Melt Batteries to Make a Living, Inhale Poison Without Knowing

On a sun-dappled stretch of Swaziland St., near St. Paul Hospital, north of Addis Abeba, w...

Featured | Nov 2 , 2025 . By REDIET YARED

Central Bank Lifts Lending Limits on Sharia-compliant Banks

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has reversed a policy that had weighed on the four ful...

Agenda | Nov 2 , 2025 . By NAHOM AYELE

SHARIA-COMPLIANT BANKS WIN REPRIEVE, AWAIT REFORM

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has scrapped the credit-growth ceiling that had stifle...

Fortune News | Nov 2 , 2025

Brewed Buck Eases as Banks Shadow Central Bank Rate in Tight Formation

Banks Tighten in Unison as Forex Rates Edge Toward New Equilibrium

In Fragmented March, Brewed Buck Slips as Banks Break Ranks

Birr Drift Exposes Cracks in Managed Market

Money Market Watch

Guided Descent of the Brewed Buck Signals a Managed Drift, Not a Market Slide

Birr Inches Forward on Forex Market as Policy Pulls Back

CBE Holds the Line, Private Lenders Push the Edges

Amhara Bank Breaks Ranks as Forex Trend Unravels

Birr Trades Quietly Through the Interlude

Forex Market Holds the Line While Central Bank Redraws It

Brewed Buck Drips Below Surface While Gaps Emerge Behind FX Facade

Policy Signals, Not Competition, Steer Forex Price Discovery

Brewed Buck Glides Lower in Stage-Managed Move as Dollar Stays Unruffled

A Year of Conditional Gains for Monetary Policy Reforms. But Endurance Remains the Test

A Year After Currency Float, the Central Bank Takes the Helm

Upstart Banks Pay Up for Dollars as Veterans Watch, CBE Sits Tight

The Brewed Buck on the Boil as Banks Push Dollar Higher, Central Bank Holds Back

Behind Gentle Slide, the Brewed Buck Faces Mounting Strain in a Restrained Market

Banks Stand Still While Currency Pressures Do the Running

Banks Edge Rates as Birr Slides and Pretenses Hold the Line

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Central Bank Lifts Lending Limits on Sharia-compliant Banks

Central Bank Misses the Mark on Forex Market Speculation

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Central Bank Misses the Mark on Forex Market Speculation

They Melt Batteries to Make a Living, Inhale Poison Without Knowing

Central Bank Lifts Lending Limits on Sharia-compliant Banks

SHARIA-COMPLIANT BANKS WIN REPRIEVE, AWAIT REFORM

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COVID UPDATE

Brewed Buck Eases as Banks Shadow Central Bank Rate in Tight Formation

Banks Tighten in Unison as Forex Rates Edge Toward New Equilibrium

In Fragmented March, Brewed Buck Slips as Banks Break Ranks

Birr Drift Exposes Cracks in Managed Market

Guided Descent of the Brewed Buck Signals a Managed Drift, Not a Market Slide

Birr Inches Forward on Forex Market as Policy Pulls Back

CBE Holds the Line, Private Lenders Push the Edges

Amhara Bank Breaks Ranks as Forex Trend Unravels

Birr Trades Quietly Through the Interlude

Forex Market Holds the Line While Central Bank Redraws It

Brewed Buck Drips Below Surface While Gaps Emerge Behind FX Facade

Policy Signals, Not Competition, Steer Forex Price Discovery

Brewed Buck Glides Lower in Stage-Managed Move as Dollar Stays Unruffled

A Year of Conditional Gains for Monetary Policy Reforms. But Endurance Remains the Test

A Year After Currency Float, the Central Bank Takes the Helm

Upstart Banks Pay Up for Dollars as Veterans Watch, CBE Sits Tight

The Brewed Buck on the Boil as Banks Push Dollar Higher, Central Bank Holds Back

Behind Gentle Slide, the Brewed Buck Faces Mounting Strain in a Restrained Market

Banks Stand Still While Currency Pressures Do the Running

Banks Edge Rates as Birr Slides and Pretenses Hold the Line

How Trump Could Win Over the Developing World

The Subtle Tyranny of 'I Know What's Best'

How Social Protection Can Accelerate Climate Action

A City of Two Worlds

Central Bank Lifts Lending Limits on Sharia-compliant Banks

Central Bank Misses the Mark on Forex Market Speculation

Central Bank Misses the Mark on Forex Market Speculation

They Melt Batteries to Make a Living, Inhale Poison Without Knowing

Central Bank Lifts Lending Limits on Sharia-compliant Banks

SHARIA-COMPLIANT BANKS WIN REPRIEVE, AWAIT REFORM

Drop us a message

COVID UPDATE

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