ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government on Thursday warned traders who are attempting to exploit the public by sabotaging the recently effective currency devaluation to increase imported products' price.
According to the Ethiopian Trade Practice and Consumers Protection Authority, some traders have attempted to hide their products, particularly imported goods, so as to increase the products' price in line with the present rate of the Ethiopian birr (ETB).
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has recently announced the plan to devalue the Ethiopian birr by 15 percent, due effective as of the first day of the second month of the Ethiopian year on Wednesday last week.
The move was mainly designed to attain the east country's target to increase its earnings from the export sector during the recently commenced Ethiopian 2017-2018 fiscal year.
However, as the value of the ETB dropped by 15 percent, the value of imported goods, mainly electronics and other technology-related products, is expected to increase.
The authority announced in a statement on Thursday that traders who have imported goods prior to the devaluation will not be allowed to hide their products from the market or increase the price of their products from the previous market price, in which the products were purchased from foreign markets.
The authority also warned that it will take legal actions on wrongdoers for their actions on the matter.
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), together with the currency devaluation, had also increased the interest rate on deposit by 2 percent from the previous 5 percent to 7 percent.
The recent ETB devaluation is the biggest that Ethiopia has made in seven years. The east African country had in August 2010 devalued its birr by 16.7 percent, a move the Ethiopian government said was made to spur economic growth and boost foreign trade.
