Ethiopia Shifts to Market Based Forex System to Attract IMF Loan, Currency Drops 30%

ADDIS ABABA, July 29 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's central bank floated the country's birr currency on Monday, a move it hopes will secure International Monetary Fund (IMF) support and make progress on a long-delayed debt restructuring.

The birr's value against the U.S. dollar slumped by 30% to 74.73 per dollar, the country's biggest lender, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia said. The currency had been trading at 57.48 birr to the dollar on Friday.