Ethiopia 20.07.24

·         Ethiopia's official creditors have granted financing assurances to the country to help gain the approval of the IMFs executive board for a new loan. A meeting was held last week to approves the financing assurances. These financing assurances mean that bilateral creditors have provided certainty that they will restructure their loans to Ethiopia in a way that’s consistent to the IMF’s programme. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-18/ethiopia-wins-financing-assurances-key-to-unlock-new-imf-loan

·         The central bank has launched a new monetary policy framework to try and meet the IMF’s conditions. The National Bank of Ethiopia introduced an interest rate-based regime. The new policy rate will be known as the National Bank Rate (NBR), and has been set at 15% https://www.centralbanking.com/central-banks/financial-stability/7961653/ethiopia-launches-new-monetary-policy-framework

·         The Central Bank of Ethiopia and the Central Bank of the UAE have signed a bilateral currency swap agreement. The two central banks also signed preliminary agreements to establish a framework for the use of local currencies in settling cross-border transactions and for linking their payment and messaging systems. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/uae-ethiopia-sign-currency-swap-agreement-with-value-up-817-million-2024-07-16/