ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has relaxed the country's foreign exchange directive, lifting several restrictions on access to and use of foreign exchange.
The NBE, in a statement issued Wednesday, said the newly introduced measures aim to further enhance the East African country's foreign exchange market.
The new measures include permits for service exporters to hold 100-percent of their export proceeds in foreign exchange retention accounts for indefinite periods.
The new directive has also allowed outbound investment by Ethiopians, subject to case-by-case approval by the NBE. Authorized banks were also granted permission to issue internationally recognized cards for all forex account holders that will be used by the customers to make outbound retail payments, including e-commerce.
According to the NBE, outbound remittance is now allowed for Ethiopians not higher than 3,000 U.S. dollars for foreign exchange account holders and non-account holders for their family upon the provision of relevant documents.
In recent years, the Ethiopian government has been implementing various targeted measures aimed at easing the country's long-standing foreign exchange shortage.
These efforts include a structural reform of the country's foreign exchange governance policy architecture, such as the introduction of a market-based foreign currency exchange regime. ■