Markets · GabaawwanSeptember 9, 2026
US$120m

The foreign exchange auction misses its offer for the first time

Gurgurtaan sharafaa yeroo jalqabaaf hin guutamne

A fan of US hundred-dollar banknotes on a wooden table
Milad Mosapoor · Public domain

US dollars, the currency the auction sells. Illustration.

Posted 4 Pagume 2018 E.C. · 11:00 EAT (5:00 Ethiopian time) · Published by Ensight (Mo Creatives) · Photograph Milad Mosapoor · Public domain

At its twenty-eighth auction the National Bank offered US$125 million and sold US$120 million, the first undersubscription since results began being published. The weighted average was 160.5357 birr and the marginal rate 158.35. Four weeks earlier the same offer drew US$470 million of bids. Analysts attribute the swing to a birr liquidity squeeze rather than to weaker dollar demand.

Source: National Bank of Ethiopia; Capital Newspaper

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