Mamo Mihretu steps down as Ethiopia’s central bank Governor after reform-driven tenure
Ethiopia’s central bank governor, Mamo Mihretu, has stepped down after a reform-driven 2½-year tenure that turned a nation gripped by currency shortages and runaway inflation into one finding its economic footing.
Since his appointment in early 2023, Mamo spearheaded a series of sweeping reforms: floating the birr, introducing a modern interest-rate-based monetary policy, and opening the financial sector to foreign lenders. Those bold moves helped unlock $10.5 billion in international financing from the IMF and World Bank, easing a foreign-currency crunch that had long hampered Africa’s second-most-populous nation.
The results were striking. Foreign-currency reserves more than tripled, digital payments surged more than tenfold, and the financial sector grew to more than 5 trillion birr ($35 billion) in assets. Inflation, which had soared to 37% three years ago, cooled to nearly 14% by July. “On leaving the NBE today, I am confident that the vision of a modern central bank that is fit for purpose is within reach,” Mamo said in his resignation note on X.
Still, reforms carried a cost. The birr, once tightly controlled at around 57 to the dollar, now trades at about 138.5 after the float — a painful adjustment for households but one economists argue was necessary for long-term growth.
Mamo leaves behind a central bank that, for the first time in decades, operates with a modern framework and greater independence. The question now is whether his successor can maintain the delicate balance between reform momentum and political pressures as Ethiopia navigates its next phase of recovery.
