When the incumbent cracked down on forex black market in some parts of Addis Ababa,a large number of people were so hopeful and optimistic that there would be no forex black market in the city any more. This is because most of the shops that used to run such illegal business activities were closed off and great amount of foreign currencies and Birr were seized.
Also some individuals that have been involving in forex black market have been caught red-handed. In the course of the crackdown , every innocent fellow citizen firmly believed that the scene of arresting black market money changers and shutting down of the unlawful shops would be a big lesson to those who are indulged in this kind of crime. But the reality on the ground is so different.
Nowadays, the rumors regarding the revival and thriving of the previous parallel market exchange rate are being spread across the city. Some imported items have recently shown price increment as well. There is no doubt that such ill act would trigger inflation and cause stress among ordinary citizens. Moreover, it creates fertile ground for hoarding money and illicit financial flow like money laundering.
In fact, a number of legal measures have been taking to control the situation relating to forex black market over the past three years. On October 2017, the government devalued Birr against USD by 15 percent aiming to boosting the country’s export and more recently having issued notice that warns individuals that are suspected of hoarding Birr and foreign currencies to deposit or exchange the money going nearby private and state owned banks before the crackdown on the forex black market begins.
It was a recent phenomenon the announcement had drawn a big crowd of people to the banks and good enough foreign currencies used to be exchanged at a fixed official rate at that time on regular basis. Plus, parallel exchange rate had been dramatically dropped. However, what are the factors that have brought the recent soaring of parallel exchange rate? One of the factors might be the news about the changing of 50 and 100 Birr notes in a near future.
Whatsoever the factors are, the government and general public need to work together on discouraging forex black market activities than ever before. It is also high time to the government to take severe actions against such criminals starting from providing detailed information about the current undesirable foreign exchange crisis that is being witnessed here the capital.
Yes, the government has to hit the very head of the nail to resolve foreign exchange crisis through introducing new measures aimed at dismantling the network of forex black market , enhancing the export performance ,improving import substitution and legalizing forex black market traders or the parallel market. Last but not least ,the private and the state owned banks need to open as many as forex bureaux across the country apart from speeding up the legalization of parallel market operations as the experts in the field claim that the country’s 30 percent foreign currencies are found in the black market.
One must not forget here that short-lived campaigns like spending much time to extinguish the fire rather than working to prevent it in the first place has to stop from now and on.
The Ethiopian Herald, December 25/2018
