Ethiopia's central bank draws US$152 million in bids at 13 October dollar auction

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) allocated US$140 million at its foreign-exchange auction on 13 October and received bids of US$152.09 million, the Ethiopian newspaper Capital reported on 14 October. The weighted average rate of successful bids was 160.1072 birr per dollar.

Twenty-nine banks took part and 26 received allocations. Bids exceeded the amount on offer by US$12.09 million. The marginal rate, also called the cut-off rate, was 158.1724 birr per dollar. Capital numbered it the central bank's 30th auction.

The previous auction, on 23 September, was undersubscribed. The NBE offered US$125 million and banks bid US$123.49 million. All 27 participating banks received allocations, the weighted average rate was 160.2297 birr per dollar and the cut-off rate was 158.0715 birr.

The 13 October sale was the first of six auctions of US$140 million each, US$840 million in total, Capital reported on 6 October. Each is 12% larger than the US$125 million supplied at regular auctions in the first quarter of the 2026/27 fiscal year.

In the same 6 October report, Capital said parallel-market rates in Addis Ababa had hovered around 180 birr per dollar and that the official rate was about 57 birr per dollar before the float.

The next auction is scheduled for 27 October, followed by sales on 10 and 24 November and 8 and 22 December.