The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia announced on Wednesday, March 27, that there is sufficient foreign currency for the national economy, according to EMFA.

The Bank’s Business Development Director, Yesehak Mengesha, speaking to journalists said there should be no concern over a possible scarcity of foreign currency in the country.

Recently there were some reports from Ethiopia  of how serious shortage of hard currency is paralyzing industries that import raw materials into the country.

Any fear of this, he added, was created by a failure of proper utilization. He said “only 50 per cent of the total foreign currency provided by the bank has been utilized by customers” so the current rumors of any shortage are baseless.

He said the Bank was supplying adequate amounts of foreign currency both in the private and the public sectors, taking into consideration the country's overall developmental activities.

The CBE’s Vice- President, Mohammad Nuredin, added that the Bank monitors and predicts the inflow and outflow of foreign currency every fifteen days, taking customers’ demands into consideration, it was able to meet the demands of its customers properly. He said the export sector and remittances were the major sources of foreign currency, and that the Bank was currently expanding its branch offices in different parts of the country with a view to increasing foreign currency inflow.