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2026-05-19

Interbank rate jumps 50% to 18 as parallel-dollar gap widens past 15%

Ethiopia's interbank money market rate spiked 50% to 18 today while USD/ETB official held at 158.8421 sell; the parallel dollar at 182.88 widens the FX gap to roughly 15.1% above the official rate.

FX - USD/ETB official: 157.2694 / 158.8421 buy/sell, +0.03% on the day. - USD/ETB parallel: 182.88 (mid), implying a gap of about 15.1% vs the official sell rate. - CNY/ETB +0.18%, JPY/ETB -0.21% — the biggest movers in the basket today.

Macro - Headline inflation (May 12 print): 11.7% YoY, up 2.3pp. - Food inflation 13.5%; Non-food inflation 9.1%.

ESX - IBMM (Interbank Money Market): 18, a 50% jump from the prior 12 print — the only real action on the board today. - WGBX 1,191, GDAB 1,160, AWAB 3,000 — all unchanged.

Watch - Election Board's request for a ~10 billion birr supplementary budget adds fiscal pressure with two weeks to the June vote (Reporter, Borkena). - Addis Fortune's 'T-Bills trap' piece flags a domestic debt squeeze tightening federal fiscal space. - Draft tax bill would roughly double receipt penalties and bar new evidence during appeals.