Key Takeaways:
• USD 236.3m — commercial banks submitted bids in NBE’s latest foreign exchange auction.
• USD 100m — National Bank of Ethiopia offered to commercial banks.
• 16 banks participated in the auction, while only eight secured allocations.
• Birr 157.9999 per dollar — cut-off exchange rate set by the NBE.
• Birr 158 per dollar — weighted average rate of successful bids.
• July 2024 — Ethiopia adopted a market-based exchange rate regime.
• NBE will conduct the next foreign exchange auction under its announced schedule.
Market Impact:
The auction result shows continued pressure for hard currency in Ethiopia’s banking system, with bids reaching more than twice the amount offered by the central bank. The gap between demand and allocation indicates that foreign-exchange liquidity remains a binding constraint for commercial banks.
The successful bid range clustered tightly around Birr 158 per dollar, showing limited variation among winning bids. The NBE’s continued use of periodic auctions remains one of its tools for easing shortages and improving foreign-currency access under the market-based exchange rate regime.
Key Numbers:
USD 236.3m — Total bids submitted — shows bank demand for hard currency
USD 100m — FX offered by NBE — available auction supply
16 banks — Auction participants — breadth of banking-sector demand
8 banks — Successful bidders — allocation concentration
Birr 157.9999/USD — Cut-off exchange rate — auction clearing threshold
Birr 158/USD — Weighted average successful rate — market pricing signal
Birr 158/USD — Highest successful bid — top accepted rate
Birr 157.99/USD — Lowest successful bid — bottom accepted rate
July 2024 — Market-based exchange rate regime adopted — policy framework
Business Signal:
Ethiopia’s FX auction remains heavily oversubscribed, signalling persistent hard-currency demand even as the central bank continues managed liquidity support through periodic dollar sales.