National Bank Allays Fear Over Possible Forex Shortage

ADDIS ABEBA – National Bank of Ethiopia has moved to allay fears over possible foreign currency shortage in the country.

The country has enough foreign currency in its reserve, declared Yinager Dessie,the bank’s governor, on Saturday.

Dr. Yeneger said the foreign currency inflow is still enough, despite the underperforming export trade.

Seven months into Abiy Ahmed’s administration, Ethiopia managed to attract a record 13 billion USD of inflows through investments, loans, grants, remittances and services.

He said finances gained through these means are being used to service debt, procure petroleum and medicine as well as cover letter of credit for the private sector.

And, therefore, there is no reason “that could force us to tap into” country’s Forex reserve, he told a state-run news agency ENA.

However, the currency crunch that Ethiopia has been battling has not eased yet with the gap between the official and black-market Birr rates remained wide.

Businesses that need hard currency to import raw materials too complain about the unpredictability of the central bank’s foreign currency allocation saying that it is affecting their performances.

Yinager said that one of the main reasons for the overhaul was the need for the economy to generate more dollars and government is doing various works to boost the import market with emphasis given to agriculture sector.

The central bank devalued the Birr currency by 15 percent last October for the first time in seven years in an attempt to boost exports.