– Forex Auction Draws USD1 Billion in Bids
Demand for foreign currency surged in Ethiopia’s latest central bank auction, with commercial banks submitting bids totalling USD1 billion against an allotted amount of USD 500 million — twice the amount on offer — as the birr weakened further against the U.S. dollar.
The weighted average exchange rate for successful bids stood at 159.98 birr per dollar.
According to the central bank, the highest successful bid reached 160.90 birr per dollar, while the lowest came in at 157.30 birr. Fourteen commercial banks secured foreign currency allocations in the auction, out of the 30 total banks participated in the bid.
From The Reporter Magazine
The auction was announced a day earlier as part of the central bank’s ongoing efforts to manage foreign-exchange crunch in the banking sector. The central bank has been continuously supplying forex through periodic auctions, aiming to ease the banks’ forex crunch and prevent the forex rate from skyrocketing. This mission has been overseen by the government since Ethiopia floated its forex regime in July 2024.
The latest intervention comes nearly three months after the previous forex auction in February 2026, when the central bank also offered 500 million dollars to commercial banks.
Unlike the latest round, the February auction was undersubscribed. Total bids at the time reached 455.5 million dollars, falling short of the amount offered by roughly 44 million dollars. Thirty banks participated in that auction, where bids ranged from 152 birr to 154 birr per dollar, with a weighted average rate of 153.25 birr.
From The Reporter Magazine
In this week’s round, 30 banks have participated by submitting bids, of which 14 succeeded.
The latest results suggest a sharp increase in demand for foreign currency and a further depreciation in the birr’s auction-clearing rate since February.
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