Parallel birr slides to 179.87/USD as official holds flat at 158.92
The parallel USD/ETB rate fell 4.24 to 179.87 while the official sell rate held flat at 158.9162, leaving a parallel premium near 13.2%. Wegagen Bank edged up 0.36% to 1,190 birr on ESX.
FX
USD/ETB official closed unchanged at 158.9162 sell / 157.3428 buy (change 0). The parallel market rate dropped 4.24 to 179.87 (buy and sell both 179.87) — the day's biggest FX move. That puts the parallel premium at roughly 13.2% above the official sell rate. EUR/ETB and GBP/ETB both eased 0.36% (185.9638 and 214.3780 sell), JPY/ETB slipped 0.19% to 1.0068, while CNY/ETB was nearly flat at 23.4007 (0.02%) and AED/ETB held at 43.2649.
Macro
Headline inflation (YoY) stands at 11.7%, up 2.3pp (as of 2026-05-07), with food inflation at 13.5% and non-food inflation at 9.1%. The National Bank's logged FX gap between parallel and official rates is 12% (as of 2026-05-08).
ESX
A quiet session. Wegagen Bank (WGBX) was the only mover, up 0.36% to 1,190.00 birr. Awash Bank (AWAB) was virtually flat at 3,000.00 (0.14%), Gadaa Bank (GDAB) unchanged at 1,100.00, and the Interbank Money Market (IBMM) rate held at 12.00. No decliners on the day.
Watch
- Ethiopia formally deferred its 1 billion USD Eurobond payment to the next fiscal year, framed under the G20 Common Framework as it targets a move from High to Moderate debt-distress risk.
- The African Union will launch the Africa Credit Rating Agency in Mauritius in June, aiming to lower borrowing costs for African issuers.
- Ethiopia and France signed a 54.6 million euro concessional loan to modernize the national power grid.
- ESX admitted First Addis Investment Bank and Siinqee Investment Bank as new trading members (2026-05-11) and concluded its second regional capital-market roadshow (2026-05-12).