Making It Easier for Migrants to Send and Save

The National Bank of Ethiopia’s (NBE’s) new “Establishment and Operation of Foreign Currency Saving Account for Residents of Ethiopia, Non-Resident Ethiopians and Non-Residents of Ethiopian Origin, Directives No. EX1V 68 /2020” allows banks to open interest-bearing, no-fee foreign currency savings accounts for both in-country Ethiopians and those abroad. So as a practical matter, the new directive primarily affects migrants and their in-country loved ones; that is, those people who earn wages or salary in currencies other than Ethiopian birr and the people who receive the money they remit back home. To understand the significance of the new directive, it is helpful first to understand the issues it was designed to address.