Businesses and individuals cannot access hard currency despite central bank interventions

In Ethiopia, severe dollar shortages persist even after the central bank quadrupled dollar supply and injected $625m into the banking system within nine days. Businesses, importers, and individuals desperately need foreign currency for international transactions, imports, and essential payments, but demand vastly exceeds available supply. Current monetary policy interventions are failing to close the gap, leaving the market starved for hard currency.