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May 11 , 2025

Birr's Gentle Drift Shows Banks Divergent Forex Strategies, Market Strain

In a week defined by whispers rather than shouts, the foreign exchange market revealed a telling duality of centralised moderation by the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) and nimble, bank-level manoeuvring in the retail cash market. Cash-rate data from 29 commercial banks charted a portrait of near-s...

May 4 , 2025

CBE Holds Firm as Private Banks Race Ahead

The foreign exchange market edged lower again last week, deepening a slide that has become a fixture for importers and travellers. During the six trading days from April 28, 2025, banks posted buying prices for the dollar between 124.01Br and 133.61Br, while selling prices stretched to 136.28Br. The spread between the cheapest and priciest quotes widened to more than nine Birr, the largest weekly range this year. This shows that balance sheet pressures now shape posted rates as much as official guidance, despite regulators' efforts to keep dealers marching in step. Across the sector, the av...


Apr 27 , 2025

Birr on the Rocks as Forex Auctions Chase Ghosts of Stability

Ever since policymakers loosened their grip on the foreign exchange regime last August, the Birr (Brewed Buck) has marched lower against the U.S. Dollar (Green Buck). Yet, the National Bank of Ethiopia's (NBE) twice-monthly currency auctions, a mainstay of the new policy, have shown the opposite pattern. Official clearing prices have kept edging down, even as commercial banks quote higher cash rates at their counters. The contradiction came into sharp focus on April 17, when the Central Bank sold 70 million dollars, meeting what it said was “96pc of banks' foreign exchange demand.” T...


Apr 19 , 2025

Birr Wobbles While Central Bank Whispers as Young Banks Break the Old Rules

Touting what they call an “all-time high” stock of foreign exchange reserves, officials of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) unleashed firepower to steady the Birr (Brewed Buck). They may not reveal the exact figure, yet central bankers insist the cushion is real. On April 17, 2025, they ran their fifth currency auction since August, offering 70 million dollars. Twenty-nine banks chased the dollars, a sign of the squeeze facing an economy short on imports, flush with inflation, and starved of cash. The Birr still weakened. Across four trading days last week, the average buying quote a...

Money Market Watch

Apr 13 , 2025

Diverging Forex Rates Expose Liquidity Strains, Policy Inertia

The financial sector is experiencing sharp divisions among commercial banks as the Birr continues to depreciate rapidly against the U.S. Dollar. This widening gap reveals sharp differences between cau...

Apr 6 , 2025

Banks Bid Low Confidence as Brewed Buck Burns

The Birr (Brewed Buck) continued its slide against the U.S. Dollar (the Green Buck) last week, underlining pressures in a foreign exchange market still adjusting to recent policy shifts and ongoing ec...

Mar 30 , 2025

As the Birr Slips, Banks Maneuver Quietly While Policy Stands Still

The Birr (Brewed Buck) edged slightly to stability against the U.S. Dollar (Green Buck) last week, revealing modest shifts in a market often characterised by subtle moves rather than dramatic swings....

Mar 23 , 2025

CBE Fixed Rate Defies Market Trends as Private Banks Jostle for Scarce Forex

While most commercial banks slightly adjusted their exchange rates upward last week, the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) has kept its buying rate fixed at 124 Birr for a dollar for nearl...

Mar 16 , 2025

Hijira, Lion Banks Push Limits as Brewed Buck Slips 2.1pc against the Dollar

An escalating divergence in the foreign exchange market is rattling confidence in the Birr, (Brewed Buck), as banks aggressively compete amid acute shortages of foreign currency. Despite recent interv...

Mar 9 , 2025

Banks Scramble for Dollars at Auctions, Shortchange Buyers on the Forex Market

The widening gap in foreign exchange rates among commercial banks fuelled tension in the forex market last week, as banks maneuvered to attract hard currency on the most favorable terms. Private banks...

Mar 2 , 2025

Forex Auctions Struggle to Stem Birrs Slide as Dollar Demand Surges

Monetary authorities moved to show their firepower last week, floating a special foreign exchange auction on February 25, 2025, offering 60 million dollars to commercial banks. “The auction follo...

Feb 23 , 2025

Birr Takes a Beating as Central Bank Sets Record Highs in Forex Market

It is official. The formal forex market has the private big five banks — Awash, Abyssinia, Dashen, Wegagen, and Zemen — offering buying rates for a dollar last week that exceeded the “psychologi...

Feb 16 , 2025

Hijira Bank Bets Big, Birr Shrinks Further, While Central Bank Watches

Hijira Bank startled the foreign exchange market last week, posting a buying rate of 126.2 Br for a dollar, outpacing every other commercial bank and setting a 2.19 Br premium over the state-owned Com...

Feb 9 , 2025

Hijira's Premium, Zemen's Bold Bet Enticing Forex Market

Last week, Hijira Bank posted a buying rate of 126.5 Br to the dollar, marking what industry observers described as a historic milestone. In an even more striking move, the Bank also offered the most...

Feb 1 , 2025

Banks Flinch, Central Bank Blinks, the Brewed Buck Burns

Birr (Brewed Buck) has been charting a steady course of depreciation against the Green Buck (U.S. Dollar) over six days beginning January 27, 2025. Although the rates across the banking industry gener...

When the Brewed Buck Bucks, Banks Play Tug-of-War in Forex Frenzy

The foreign exchange market has been quirky lately, marked by sudden shifts and divergent strategies among commercial banks and the Central Bank. Abay Bank (ABY) captured the limelight with an unex...

Jan 19 , 2025

As Brewed Buck Battles, Outliers Banks Dare, Regulators Glare, Forex Scarce

Last week's foreign exchange postings from commercial banks offered a revealing glimpse into currency market pressures. Most banks opted to keep their buying rates below the 125 Br mark, even as a han...

Jan 12 , 2025

Tsehays Dollar Dash, CBEs Poker Face, a Forex Market Dancing on Edge

The Brewed Buck's relentless downward drift against a basket of major currencies showed little sign of slowing as the new year began last week. The Birr's value against the Dollar was kept under 1...

Jan 5 , 2025

Forex Moves Test Market Boundaries While Caution Casts a Long Shadow

Last week, the foreign exchange market provided a window into the persistent tussle between policy objectives and market forces. An outlier emerged in Tsehay Bank, which decisively pushed past the 12...

Dec 29 , 2024

Tsehay Bank Breaks the Buck . . . And the Rules of Caution

Tsehay Bank rattled the foreign exchange market last week by offering a buying rate of over 125 Br to the U.S. Dollar, an unusual move attributed by industry observers to its executives' heightened sc...


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