Money Market Watch

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Money Market Watch

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...

Dec 22 , 2024

As Liquidity Dries Up, Forex Market Becomes a Battleground for Survival

The modest depreciation of the Birr last week has amplified pressure on the foreign exchange market, exposing underlying systemic vulnerabilities in liquidity management and the stability of the banki...

Dec 15 , 2024

Banks Tiptoe Around Forex Silent Rules, ShrinkingValues

Last week, the banking industry showed unusual uniformity in its posted foreign exchange rates. Most banks maintained a tight band and refrained from breaking what appeared to be an unofficial ceiling...

Dec 8 , 2024

Banks Push, Regulators Pull, the Birr Takes the Fall

The Brewed Buck moved subtly but persistently against the Green Buck over the past week, uncovering deeper structural issues in the foreign exchange market. Between December 2 and December 7, 2024, ra...

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