NAIROBI, Sept 8 (Reuters) – The Nigerian naira, Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian shillings are likely to hold steady against the dollar in the next week to Thursday while Zambia’s kwacha will weaken, traders said.
KENYA
The Kenyan shilling is expected to remain stable as dollar sales by non-governmental organizations support demand from importers, traders said.
At 0848 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 101.20/40 to the dollar, compared with 101.30/40 at last Thursday’s close.
“Non-governmental organisations and multinationals are selling dollars to fulfil their mid-month obligations,” said a trader from one commercial bank.
UGANDA
The Ugandan shilling is seen holding steady as importer demand for dollars weakens, undermined by lower consumer spending.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,380/3,390, weaker than last Thursday’s close of 3,370/3,380.
“Interest from importers has been sagging for a couple of weeks now and we’ve not seen any signs this is about to change,” said a trader from a leading commercial bank, who added weakness in the broader economy was hurting imports.
TANZANIA
The Tanzanian shilling is expected to remain steady, buoyed by a slowdown in demand for dollars traders.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 2,180/2,190 to the dollar on Thursday, unmoved from a week ago.
“There is a slowdown in demand for dollars in the market and this will likely help the shilling to remain firm at the same levels next week,” said Nyanjula Seleman, a dealer at Commercial Bank of Africa Tanzania.
ZAMBIA
The kwacha is expected to remain under pressure next week due to limited in flows of hard currency into Africa’s second-largest copper producer.
At 1207 GMT on Thursday, commercial banks quoted the local currency at 10.2500 per dollar from 9.6500 a week ago.
“In the absence of huge foreign exchange inflows, the depreciation of the kwacha is likely to continue into next week,” independent financial analyst Maambo Hamaundu said.
GHANA
Ghana’s cedi is expected to hold steady next week on improved forex inflows to match dollar demand by local firms and businesses, traders said.
The local currency was trading at 3.9680 to the dollar by 1120 GMT on Thursday, compared with3.9650 a week ago, and down around 4 percent since January.
“We don’t expect any pressure on the local currency next week … demand and supply are fairly matched,” Barclays Bank Ghana trader Jake Brobbey said.
The naira is likely to trade little changed even as the central bank struggles to support the local currency by injecting dollars into the official market daily.
The naira has consistently closed at 305 to the dollar on the interbank market in the week to Thursday on support from the central bank’s daily intervention.
It has been broadly flat at 425 to the dollar on the parallel market, compared with 423 a dollar last week. Traders said dollar supply had improved after the central bank lifted suspension of eight banks banned from the interbank currency market for failing to remit money owed to the government. (Reporting by John Ndiso, Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala, Elias Biryabarema, Kwasi Kpodo, Oludare Mayowa and Chris Mfula, Compiled by George Obulutsa, editing by Larry King)
