Ethiopian Government Orders Private Banks to Cover ESLSE Forex NeedsSeptember 12, 2017 - In unprecedented move, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) directed all of the private banks to sell 15 million dollar worth of foreign currency to Ethiopian Shipping Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE) to cover port payments to Djibouti, according to Ethiopian English weekly newspaper Addis Fortune. All Ethiopian private banks deposited the money to a foreign bank and received a payment from CBE. "It is sudden and unprecedented," said one of the executives of private banks, who wished to remain anonymous. The directive of foreign currency allocation entails all banks must sell foreign currency to a sector whose importance is very high. This, exacerbated by a drop in export earnings put the country under foreign currency crises, according to a banking expert.

Source: Ethiopian News September 12, 2017 17:48 UTC