Market trading

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has initiated processes to better regulate foreign exchange transactions and by that weaken the black market. According to a new directive, importers are obliged to request for foreign currency from the NBE based on the international prices of their imports. The central bank’s chief economist and its vice governor Yohanes Ayalew, confirmed that the directive had been circulated to commercial banks and was already being enforced. Ethiopia’s economy continues to get good reviews from international lenders like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF chief, Christine Lagarde recently visited Ethiopia and urged the government to work at alternative drivers of growth. In November 2017, custom authorities said they continued to record increasing incidence of forex smuggling especially via its main airport, Bole International Airport in the capital Addis Ababa. They said, they had intercepted an audacious a…