Life Matters | Apr 03,2021
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has ordered all bank accounts that have been opened in Tigray Regional State frozen. With the new procedure, an individual living in any part of the country cannot withdraw cash from a bank account that was opened in one of the towns of the Regional State.
The freezing order was communicated to the presidents of all of the commercial banks via a text message early last week. No circular or directive was issued for the new order. Two weeks ago, the regulatory bank had commanded all of the banks operating in the Regional State to close doors and fully cease services.
The message from the central bank does not have much explanation, according to bank executives Fortunetalked to.
The new rule from the central bank coincided with the Office of the Attorney General's announcement delisting 34 companies operating under Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT). The Attorney General also put out an order to freeze the assets and bank accounts of these business entities as of November 16, 2020, accusing them of attempting to transfer and hide their assets.
Established in the summer of 1995 with seed money contributed by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), EFFORT has subsidiary companies engaged in different business areas. Sur Construction, Trans Ethiopia, Mesfin Industrial Engineering, Sheba Tannery, Mega Printing, Messebo Cement Factory and Meganet Corporation are among the companies whose accounts have been suspended. The Attorney General has also noted that an asset manager will be assigned to oversee the confiscated assets and resources of the companies.
For the past two weeks, all 616 bank branches across the Regional State have closed their doors following orders from the central bank, which claimed that it saw signs of looting of banks in the Regional State. The incident followed the military engagement between the federal government and the regional state administration that began early this month.
On the same date the conflict erupted, the central bank had delivered 1.3 billion Br worth of the new banknotes that were ready to be distributed across the Regional State loaded on two cargo aircraft. The aircraft were also supposed to bring back four billion Birr worth of the old notes.
Head offices of the banks do not have communications with the branches since there is no internet service in the Regional State connecting the branches with the core banking system.
Even though the central bank has ordered the banks to be closed, the regional government has made some banks open branches, as of the end of last week. And the banks had been serving customers with a withdrawal cap of 10,000 Br a person, according to sources close to the case.
PUBLISHED ON
Sep 01,2021 [ VOL
22 , NO
1114]
Life Matters | Apr 03,2021
Radar | Sep 10,2021
Radar | Oct 03,2020
News Analysis | Jan 05,2020
Radar | Jun 12,2021
Radar | Aug 21,2021
View From Arada | Dec 05,2018
My Opinion | May 23,2021
Fortune News | Sep 11,2020
Fortune News | Jan 16,2021
Comments are closed.
October 16 , 2021 . By HAWI DADHI
Residing in a country with no capital market, an organised marketplace for trading se...
August 28 , 2021 . By HAWI DADHI
The streets of Addis Abeba are as varied as they are many, although too many of them have yet to be named. From the narrow alleyways of the...
August 7 , 2021
There are a few without an opinion on Ethiopia’s federal structure, which is arranged along lingo-cultu...
July 24 , 2021
There was an alarming increase in the price of Teffin August 2017. It suddenly skyrocketed from 2,000 Br...
October 23 , 2021
Ethiopia`s civil war continues to rage, with no sign of respite or a prospect for a n...
October 16 , 2021
For many, the past rainy season was a critical moment in the life of the nation. One...
October 9 , 2021
Public offices have been having a field day in the past few years. From the Prime Min...
October 2 , 2021
Ethiopia`s Parliament will pick up a Prime Minister on Monday, October 4, 2021. The i...
በስራ ጉዳይ ትግራይ ተመድበን እየሰራን ቆይተን ደመወዛችሁ በባንክ እንዲገባላችሁ ተብለን እዛ ሒሳብ ከፍተን ቆይተን ግርግሩ ሲጀመር አዲስ አበባ የመጣን የመንግስት ሰራተኞች ደመወዛችን ሳናወጣ ነው ሳናስበው ባንክ ቤት ገብተን ማውጣት አትችሉም የተባልነው። ይሔም በፍፁም አግባብ አይደለም። መፍትሔ ሊበጅለት ይገባል።