Pursuant to Article 23 of the amended National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) Establishment Proclamation, the NBE Board has approved the appointment of two independent experts to the newly formed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
According to Article 23.3 of the Proclamation, the NBE is required to include two independent members as part of the seven-member MPC. The amendment to the 2008 law, enacted during the previous fiscal year, introduced the MPC, which is tasked with preparing and proposing monetary policy for final approval by the Board.
The Committee is composed of seven members: the Governor of the NBE serves as Chairperson, and a Vice Governor, designated by the Governor, acts as Deputy Chair. Sub-article 3 of Article 23 stipulates that, with the Board’s approval, the Committee may include two external experts who are not employees of the Bank as part of its seven members. The Board is currently chaired by Ambassador Girma Biru.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the NBE noted that the inclusion of external MPC members is intended to enhance the Committee’s analytical capabilities and support the Board in making well-informed, evidence-based monetary policy decisions.
“The newly appointed external members are distinguished economists with strong academic credentials and extensive professional experience in macroeconomic analysis and policy. Their expertise is expected to contribute meaningfully to rigorous policy deliberations and to reinforce the effectiveness of the MPC in fulfilling its mandate,” the statement added.
Efforts by Capital to identify the newly appointed members were unsuccessful. Since December 2024, the MPC has convened five times to propose bold macroeconomic and monetary policy directions for Board approval.
The 2024 amended proclamation introduced several changes aimed at modernizing the central bank’s operations, including the establishment of the MPC and the Financial Stability Committee.
