National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) announced Birr is devalued by 15 percent starting from October 11, 2017.

According to The Reporter, the move by the central bank will bring a 3.45 Birr increase in the USD exchange rate.

It has been years since the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) requesting NBE to devaluate Birr as Birr has been overvalued for a long time. Their reason was enhancing the country’s export trade.

However, the move will negatively impact the country’s foreign debt basket, The Reporter read. Experts also warn the devaluation will trigger inflation as import will be expensive, the newspaper further noted.

It was 7 years ago that NBE last devaluated Birr. Back then the devaluation was 20 percent.

Addressing the join session of the House Peoples Representatives (HPR) and House of Federation yesterday, President Mulatu Teshome (PhD) had indicated exchange rate reform was planned.

Source: The Reporter