Ethiopia’s Central Bank Clarifies Use of Customs Commission Indicative Prices for Imports

Addis Ababa, February 7, 2026 (FMC) – The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has clarified guidance on the use of the Ethiopian Customs Commission’s indicative prices for selected import items, following public feedback and observed confusion in the banking sector.

According to the central bank, the indicative prices issued by the Customs Commission are intended solely as reference points to support consistency and transparency in the valuation of imports during foreign exchange processing. They are not fixed or mandatory prices, and should not be interpreted as exact valuations for individual transactions.

To address implementation concerns, NBE instructed all banks to:

• Use the Customs Commission indicative prices as reference data to assess the reasonableness of declared import prices.
• Review only significant or abnormal discrepancies between the indicative prices and customer-submitted values.

The central bank emphasized that the primary goal of the initiative is to formalize remittance flows, enhance transparency, and support the smooth functioning of Ethiopia’s foreign exchange market as part of broader national economic reforms.

NBE further assured the public that corrective guidance has been issued to banks to ensure proper implementation without causing unintended restrictions or disruptions. Supervisory teams have been tasked with monitoring consistent application of the guidance across all financial institutions.