ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s central bank devalued the Ethiopian birr ETB= by 15 percent on Tuesday, its first such move in seven years to boost lagging exports. The birr was quoted by the National Bank of Ethiopia at a weighted average of 23.4177 against the dollar on Monday, compared to what will be 26.9215. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, have both repeatedly urged Ethiopia to consider devaluing its currency to boost exports as they are mostly unprocessed products and need to stay competitive on price. Addis Ababa earned $2.9 billion (2.20 billion pounds)in the 2017-2018 fiscal year, versus a target of $4 billion. But Addis Ababa has in the past tended to brush off such advice and said it would keep charge of key sectors.

Source: Ethiopian News October 11, 2017 02:29 UTC