Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Adjusts Forex Buying Rates

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) adjusted its foreign exchange buying rates upward throughout the past week. Starting from 160.23 Br on Wednesday, the bank increased its rate by 20 cents daily, reaching 160.83 Br by Saturday, with a selling rate of 164.04 Br. This 0.37 percent increase accounted for 57.3 percent of the total rise in the average buying quotation across the sector. The adjustment was significantly higher than that of Nib Bank, the second-largest institution in the market.

Meanwhile, the National Bank of Ethiopia's reference rate saw a slight decline, moving from 160.98 Br to 160.92 Br. Consequently, the gap between the CBE's buying rate and the central bank's reference narrowed by nearly 88 percent, dropping from 0.75 Br to 0.09 Br. This convergence indicates the CBE's efforts to align its quotations more closely with the central bank’s benchmarks.