The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE)  announced today that it has devaluated the national currency of the country (birr) against major international currencies by about 20 percent.

Posted:  Thursday, September 2, 2010

One US dollar which was equivalent to 13.62 birr will be exchanged at 16.35 Ethiopian birr as of today (September 1, 2010). The measure taken by NBE is expected to make import expensive and result in increasing prices of imported goods.

The announcement followed Ethiopia’s government Growth and transformation plan, which attempts to make the industrial sector lead the economy after five years by substituting imported goods.

In a meeting Prime Minister Meles Zenawi held with major business community on Saturday (August 28, 2010) indicated his government’s plan to support investors who are willing to be engaged in producing imported goods locally.

Value of One Ethiopian Birr: Applicable as of September 1, 2010

Currency Buying Selling US DOLLAR(USD) 16.3514 16.6784 POUND STERLING(GBP) 25.2040 25.7081 EURO(EUR) 20.7450 21.1599 SWISS FRANK(CHF) 16.0276 16.3482 SWEDISH KRONER(SEK) 2.2123 2.2565 NORWEGIAN KRONER(NOK) 2.5880 2.6398 DANISH KRONER(DKK) 2.7864 2.8421