Ethiopia's Central Bank Pumps $90 Million into Tigray Banks amid Liquidity Crisis

The Central Bank of Ethiopia has pumped 5 billion birr ($90 million) into the banks of the Tigray region to enable them to resume their services amid increasing complaints from the population about a lack of cash.

Adviser to the Prime Minister Radwan Hussein said, via Twitter: “According to the decision taken by the government, the National Bank of Ethiopia began sending 5 billion birr to the Mekele region in Tigray,” while this decision came after the talks of the peace negotiation teams of the federal government and the Tigray region who met recently. They discussed the progress made in implementing peace efforts between the two sides since November last year.

On his part, the peace negotiator in the Tigray region Getachew Reda confirmed that “banks opened their doors in Tigray but due to the serious shortage of cash they did not provide services,” adding that people in the Tigray region who have money become dependent on assistance, because they cannot access their bank savings, explaining that all banks open their doors daily during working hours, but they do not provide any financial service.

He emphasized that the residents had expressed their frustration at the failure of all banks in the area to provide services despite the widespread reports of the resumption of banking services in the area.

"Many people died from treatable diseases because they could not get their own money from banks for medical treatment," he stressed.

Local media sources stated that although some progress has been made in resuming air travel and restoring telecommunications in the Tigray region, which has been under a "virtual blockade" for two years, progress in restoring basic services has been slow, and there is still a significant gap between demand for and availability of services.

The sources pointed out that even in the field of humanitarian aid, where significant progress has been made since the conclusion of the peace agreement, the United Nations said that there are still some areas that did not witness the arrival of aid, amounting to 127 thousand tons of food waiting for more than 3.8 million people.