This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling.(October 2024) |
On 29 July 2024, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) announced relaxing of restrictions on currency value of the Ethiopian birr to secure a loan of $10.7 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. [1] NBE announced the Ethiopian birr would be devalued by 30% against the US dollar to promote market based foreign exchange system amidst the forex crisis. Many Ethiopians were concerned that the policy would increase the cost of living and exacerbate the rate of inflation. [2]
Starting on 1 August, the government ordered the closure of dozens of business entities that caused the prices of basic commodities to surge in Addis Ababa. According to Trade Bureau of Oromia, 19 businesses closed and 16 individuals were detained. [3]
On 29 July 2024, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) announced to ease restriction on currency value of the Ethiopian birr to secure a loan of $10.7bn (£8.3bn) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. This sharply declined by 30% against the US dollar. Upon hearing the news, Ethiopians were concerned over the rise of cost of living amidst inflation. Ethiopia has been grappling with a foreign exchange crisis exacerbated by persistent civil wars, resulting in a shortage of foreign currency. Under this new policy, the Ethiopian birr would be determined by the market. [4] [5]
The policy came into effect after the government negotiated with the IMF and World Bank. The IMF urged Ethiopia to liberalize its foreign exchange market as a condition for receiving $10.7 billion in external financing. [6] Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed congratulated the government on the decision to float the birr, stating that such a measure would lead Ethiopia to prosperity. [7] On 1 August, the government ordered the shutdown of dozens of businesses due to the surging prices of basic commodities in Addis Ababa. An Addis Ababa City Trade Bureau spokesperson, Sewnet Ayele, said "the businesses were caught making unreasonable price increases, mostly on food items. The stocks were imported before the new exchange rate." Accordingly, 71 business entities have been affected. In Oromia Region, 19 businesses closed and 16 individuals were detained according to the head of the Trade Bureau of Oromia Meseret Assefa. [3]
The economy of Ethiopia is a mixed and transition economy with a large public sector. The government of Ethiopia is in the process of privatizing many of the state-owned businesses and moving toward a market economy. The banking, telecommunication and transportation sectors of the economy are dominated by government-owned companies.
In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as they usually switch to more stable foreign currencies. Effective capital controls and currency substitution ("dollarization") are the orthodox solutions to ending short-term hyperinflation; however there are significant social and economic costs to these policies. Ineffective implementations of these solutions often exacerbate the situation. Many governments choose to attempt to solve structural issues without resorting to those solutions, with the goal of bringing inflation down slowly while minimizing social costs of further economic shocks.
The economy of Zimbabwe is a gold standard based economy. Zimbabwe has a $44 billion dollar informal economy in PPP terms which translates to 64.1% of the total economy. Agriculture and mining largely contribute to exports. The economy is estimated to be at $73 billion at the end of 2023.
Purchasing power parity (PPP) is a measure of the price of specific goods in different countries and is used to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries' currencies. PPP is effectively the ratio of the price of a market basket at one location divided by the price of the basket of goods at a different location. The PPP inflation and exchange rate may differ from the market exchange rate because of tariffs, and other transaction costs.
A reserve currency is a foreign currency that is held in significant quantities by central banks or other monetary authorities as part of their foreign exchange reserves. The reserve currency can be used in international transactions, international investments and all aspects of the global economy. It is often considered a hard currency or safe-haven currency.
In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of the euro.
Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to affect monetary and other financial conditions to accomplish broader objectives like high employment and price stability. Further purposes of a monetary policy may be to contribute to economic stability or to maintain predictable exchange rates with other currencies. Today most central banks in developed countries conduct their monetary policy within an inflation targeting framework, whereas the monetary policies of most developing countries' central banks target some kind of a fixed exchange rate system. A third monetary policy strategy, targeting the money supply, was widely followed during the 1980s, but has diminished in popularity since then, though it is still the official strategy in a number of emerging economies.
The rupiah is the official currency of Indonesia, issued and controlled by Bank Indonesia. Its name is derived from the Sanskrit word for silver, rupyakam (रूप्यकम्). Sometimes, Indonesians also informally use the word perak in referring to rupiah in coins. The rupiah is divided into 100 cents, although high inflation has rendered all coins and banknotes denominated in cents obsolete.
The foreign exchange market is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspects of buying, selling and exchanging currencies at current or determined prices. In terms of trading volume, it is by far the largest market in the world, followed by the credit market.
The birr is the primary unit of currency in Ethiopia. It is subdivided into 100 santims.
Foreign exchange reserves are cash and other reserve assets such as gold and silver held by a central bank or other monetary authority that are primarily available to balance payments of the country, influence the foreign exchange rate of its currency, and to maintain confidence in financial markets. Reserves are held in one or more reserve currencies, nowadays mostly the United States dollar and to a lesser extent the euro.
The National Bank of Ethiopia is the central bank of Ethiopia. Its headquarters are in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Mamo Mihretu is the current governor of the bank.
Currency intervention, also known as foreign exchange market intervention or currency manipulation, is a monetary policy operation. It occurs when a government or central bank buys or sells foreign currency in exchange for its own domestic currency, generally with the intention of influencing the exchange rate and trade policy.
A fixed exchange rate, often called a pegged exchange rate, is a type of exchange rate regime in which a currency's value is fixed or pegged by a monetary authority against the value of another currency, a basket of other currencies, or another measure of value, such as gold.
Currency manipulator is a designation applied by United States government authorities, such as the United States Department of the Treasury, to countries that engage in what is called "unfair currency practices" that give them a trade advantage. Such practices may be currency intervention or monetary policy in which a central bank buys or sells foreign currency in exchange for domestic currency, generally with the intention of influencing the exchange rate and commercial policy. Policymakers may have different reasons for currency intervention, such as controlling inflation, maintaining international competitiveness, or financial stability. In many cases, the central bank weakens its own currency to subsidize exports and raise the price of imports, sometimes by as much as 30–40%, and it is thereby a method of protectionism. Currency manipulation is not necessarily easy to identify and some people have considered quantitative easing to be a form of currency manipulation.
The foreign exchange reserves of India are holdings of cash, bank deposits, bonds, and other financial assets denominated in currencies other than India's national currency, the Indian rupee. The foreign-exchange reserves are managed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the Indian government, and the main component is foreign currency assets.
Pakistan has experienced an economic crisis as part of the 2022 political unrest. It has caused severe economic challenges for months due to which food, gas and oil prices have risen.
The banking sector of Ethiopia composed of the central bank, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) and the state owned Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE), along with other thirty private banks. By 2020, the NBE planned to increase the minimum capital for banks to operate to 2 billion birr and instructed all commercial banks to increase their capital. Foreign banks did not allow to provide service in Ethiopia, instead use medium term as the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pursued wide economic reforms.
The following is a list of events predicted and scheduled to take place in the year 2024 in Ethiopia.