A Small Slide in the Birr Reveals a Bigger Split Over Dollars

Jun 7 , 2026.

The foreign-exchange market spent the first week of June moving, but not breaking. After weeks without a Central Bank forex auction, the Birr (the Brewed Buck) weakened modestly across commercial-bank boards, tracing an orderly depreciation against the U.S. dollar (the Green Buck).

The movement was too measured to signal panic, but too broad to ignore. It exposed a market that appeared stable yet remained divided beneath the surface, where the posted rate is the most visible signal, even as incentives outside the quoted price shape actual transactions.

The average buying rate limped from about 156.20 Br to the dollar on June 1 to 156.79 Br by June 6. The average selling rate moved from 159.22 Br to 159.82 Br. The six-day change, around 0.38pc, was slight. Over the full period, the average buying rate was about 156.58 Br, while the average selling rate averaged about 159.60 Br. Banks were permitting the Brewed Buck to slide, but only by increments.

However, the calm was not the product of vigorous price competition. It came from a tightly standardised structure, where every commercial bank maintained a two percent margin between buying and selling rates. Banks did not compete visibly by widening or narrowing margins, but, where they competed at all, they chose the level of their quotes.

Oromia Bank remained the ceiling-setter. Its June 6 quote was 162.73 Br buying and 165.99 Br selling, the highest posted level in the dataset. The Bank did not adjust its rate during the week, but stayed far above the market average and well above the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE). On June 6, Oromia Bank’s buying rate was 8.53 Br higher than CBE’s 154.2 Br. If the board rate signals appetite for hard currency, Oromia Bank was prepared to pay materially more for dollar liquidity than most peers.

Hijira Bank held the other end of the board. Its buying rate began at 153.82 Br on June 1 and increased to 154.1 Br from June 2 onward, and remained at that level through June 6. Its selling rate ended at 157.1839 Br. The gap between Oromia Bank’s 162.7358 Br buying quote and Hijira’s 154.1019 Br floor showed how uneven the official market has become. A customer selling a dollar to one bank could receive more than eight Birr above what another bank posted, before bonuses or other incentives.

CBE also sat among the low-rate baks, having its buying rate barely moving from 154.2 Br. Against the industry average of 157.09 Br, CBE was 2.86 Br lower. The state-owned bank's low posting revealed a restraint rather than a rush for dollar deposits, although some banks, including the CBE, have offered top-up bonuses on dollars they buy. That makes the rate an incomplete measure of the real cost of mobilising foreign exchange.

The large private banks were similarly cautious. Awash, Abyssinia, Dashen, Wegagen and Zemen made only marginal adjustments. Awash moved from 154.94 Br to 154.99 Br, while Dashen increased from 154.88 Br to 154.99 Br. The Bank of Abyssinia increased from 155.02 Br to 155.15 Br, and Zemen Bank edged up from 156.44 Br to 156.53 Br. Together, the five-bank average climbed by less than eight cents.

Wegagen was the exception inside this group. It kept its buying rate unchanged at 159.62 Br, closer to the upper band than to those of Awash, Dashen, or Abyssinia banks. By the end of the week, Wegagen Bank’s quote was 5.41 Br above CBE and 4.63 Br above Awash Bank. It sat in a premium tier with Berhan, Goh Betoch, Global Bank Ethiopia and ZamZam, rather than with the lower group clustered around 154 Br to 155 Br. The split showed that the big private banks were not acting as a single bloc.

Some banks made visible step adjustments. Anbesa Bank posted the largest increase, raising its buying rate by 2.35 Br, from 155.51 Br. Global Bank Ethiopia increased by 1.54 Br, while ZamZam Bank's climbed by 1.43 Br. The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) and Enat Bank each gained about 1.41 Br, while Tsedey Bank added 1.35 Br, and Siket Bank jumped by 1.31 Br. These were not continuous market moves, but discrete jumps followed by pauses, consistent with rates being revised administratively rather than through minute-by-minute price discovery.

Tsedey Bank offered one of the clearest examples of a controlled crawl. Its buying quote moved from 156.5 Br on June 1 to 157.85 Br on June 6. Its selling rate increased from 159.63 Br to 161 Br. Sidama Bank climbed steadily, reaching 157.14 Br by the end of the week. Cooperative Bank of Oromia (Coop Bank) moved more abruptly, rising to 156 Br from 154.99 Br. These banks helped pull the average upward.

Another group, including Addis, Amhara, Gadaa, Nib and Tsehay bank, scarcely moved. Wegagen and Oromia banks, though higher in the distribution, were also static.

While most commercial banks moved up or stayed flat, the central bank alone showed a midweek spike followed by a retreat.

The Central Bank’s path was different. It quoted the same buy and sell rates, maintaining a zero spread and acting less like a commercial bank and more like a reference point. Its rate increased from 157.97 Br on June 1 to 159.37 Br on June 2 and 159.69 Br on June 3. It then fell to 158.4 Br on June 4 and 158.25 Br by June 5 and June 6. By the end of the week, the Central Bank's 158.25 Br rate was 4.15 Br above Hijira Bank’s lowest buying rate and 4.48 Br below Oromia Bank’s buying quote, which stood alone at the top.

Wegagen, Berhan, Goh Betoch, Global Ethiopia and ZamZam formed an upper-middle group. Addis and Hibret banks also sat above the lower cluster. Enat, Bunna, Siket, Sidama, Tsedey, Zemen and the Central Bank reference rate occupied a middle tier. CBE, Hijira, Nib, Amhara, Gadaa, Tsehay, Awash, Dashen and several other banks remained near the lower end, around 154 Br to 155 Br.

The absence of a forex auction has not produced a visible break in the official market. Instead, the posted market shows managed adjustment. The Brewed Buck weakened incrementally, but spreads did not widen, the biggest banks did not race to the top, and the rates avoided disorderly repricing. For customers, the dispersion remained consequential because the same dollar could fetch very different returns depending on the bank and its incentives.

The deeper message is that stability should not be mistaken for the absence of pressure. The average rate crawled higher, while the Central Bank remained a zero-spread benchmark. Oromia Bank and Wegagen Bank continued to offer visible premiums among the big five private banks, except Wegagen, which held back. In the absence of the forex auctions, the official rate became the main signal. Last week, that signal was not a panic but a controlled depreciation.

PUBLISHED ON Jun 07,2026 [ VOL 27 , NO 1362]