In simple term it means,
1. Ethiopian birr lost value
2. Now the forex market is controlled by free market, the black market price will be legal.
3. Now, two individuals can agree on the price of USD and ETB rather than NBE.
4. importers are going to be in loss for short period of time while exporters will benefit from this
5. Imported goods will be expensive atleast for a year
6. Industry's in Ethiopia will have now the opportunity to go monopoly on forging products
7. International payments are now legal. You can pay for Netflix, HBO and other things.
How bad it is?
1. If the banks runs out of USD, the entire chain will collapse
2. Those who live on monthly salary are going to be hurt a lot by this policy
3. If the government starts buying USD from the black market, it will backfire and we will go to default
4. After a month or 2, many products will be 30% expensive.
5. If export does not start making more USD, this policy is useless.
Aug 01, 2024