Uganda central bank intervenes to slow shilling appreciation

KAMPALA: Uganda's central bank intervened on Friday to buy US dollars to slow the appreciation of the shilling, traders said.

The shilling opened at 2,515/2,525 and was trading at an intra-day high of 2,505/2,515 when Bank of Uganda started buying dollars.

By 0835GMT it weakened to 2,515/2,525.

"There has been a lot of interbank selling and we've also seen sell-offs by offshore investors which pushed the shilling sharply downwards (strengthening) before the central bank intervened to limit the gains," said Benon Okwenje, trader at Stanbic Bank.