KAMPALA: The Ugandan shilling rose against the dollar on Friday, helped by weak importer demand for dollars ahead of the holidays, and one bank said the local currency could climb more. At 1021 GMT commercial banks quoted the currency of east Africa's third-largest economy at 2,660/2,670, up from Thursday's close of 2,670/2,680.
"(Dollar) demand has virtually dried up in the interbank market.
There's no underlying demand from businesses because of the oncoming holidays," said Shahzad Kamaluddin, a trader at Crane Bank.
The shilling has held its own against the dollar in recent days, mainly due to a seasonal rise in dollar inflows from Ugandans living abroad, amid low demand for dollars due to slowing activity at businesses ahead of the holidays.
Bank KCB Uganda said in a research note that the shilling, which is down 6.9 percent against the dollar this year, was expected "to test the 2,650 mark in the next few days."
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