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May 31 , 2025

Brewed Buck Caught Between a Peg, a Hard Place

The foreign exchange market spent the final week of May in a wary holding pattern, wrestling with liquidity strain yet stopping short of outright turbulence. A handful of commercial banks broke ranks, tweaking their posted rates in ways that exposed the conflicting pressures on the Birr (Brewed Buck...

May 24 , 2025

CBE Shifts Gear on Forex as Market Fractures Widen

The first move in nearly half a year by the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) to lift its foreign exchange offerings has injected fresh energy into a market that had been drifting in a narrow channel since December last year. The state-owned bank nudged its buying rate to 128 Br for a Dollar from 126 Br and set a selling rate of 130.56 Br. And it offered a 10 Br bonus for every dollar it bought. Though modest, the adjustment ends a long spell of static pricing at the country's largest bank and signals that monetary authorities are willing to let rates inch higher after months of gentle depr...


May 17 , 2025

Central Bank Tweaks Rates While the Birr Holds Its Breath

The foreign exchange market had a telling week, and the story was all in the margins. Last week, the Central Bank nudged its official cash-buying rate from 130.47 Br to 132.17 Br for a dollar, a small but steady slide that reaffirmed the Brewed Buck's continuing weakness. The real issue, though, was in the gap between what the Central Bank paid for dollars and what it charged to sell them. That spread opened the week on May 12, 2025, at a roomy 2.39pc, retreated to a whisker-thin 0.01pc by midweek, and finished at 0.41pc six days later. In a market accustomed to rigid, predictable spreads,...


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-static policy anchors alongside pockets of aggressive play for scarce dollars. Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) was at the epicentre. The state-owned behemoth was setting what has become, paradoxically, the lowest benchmark in town. CBE posted the lowest rates, buying greenbacks at 124.01 Br and...

Money Market Watch

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...

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 Ethi...

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 re...

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...


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