Ethiopia's central bank said the weighted average exchange rate at a special foreign exchange auction on Wednesday was 107.9 birr per U.S. dollar.

Twenty-seven banks participated in the auction, the National Bank of Ethiopia said, adding that the transactions conducted under the auction would reflect in the bank's indicative daily exchange rate on Thursday.

Ethiopia adopted a market-determined foreign exchange rate last week to secure a new International Monetary Fund lending programme and make progress on a long-delayed debt overhaul.

The East African country has long struggled with high inflation and chronic foreign currency shortages.

(Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; Writing by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning)