Tigray Gets Extended Time to Change Old Banknotes 

The National Bank of Ethiopia (file)

Borkena

December 30, 2020 

Tigray region of Ethiopia is getting fourteen days of extension to change old banknotes, the National Bank of Ethiopia on Wednesday announced in a statement sent to state media Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC). 

It is effective starting December 30 and banks will be working including weekends for the next two weeks. 

Banknote changes  in the region were suspended following a law enforcement campaign starting November 4, 2020, after Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces attacked Ethiopian Defense Force bases in the region.

Banking service was resumed in the region in the areas where internet and power are restored including Mekelle City. 

All regulations introduced during the banknote change will be implemented in the course of collecting old notes, the Bank also announced. Banks in the region are required to send weekly reports to the National Bank of Ethiopia, according to the report by FBC. 

This time around the maximum amount that people could exchange with the new banknotes is less than 100,000 Ethiopian birr. The reason is that the time given for exchanging amounts up to 1.5 million Ethiopian Birr expired before the law enforcement operation was started on November 4. 

Ethiopia introduced banknotes changes in September 2020 in what was said to be was an effort to combat corruption and illicit trade, and was underway fore three months.