African currencies week ahead: Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania currencies seen stable

LUSAKA: Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania’s currencies are expected to remain stable this week.

ZAMBIA — The kwacha is expected to remain range-bound in the coming week due to limited market activity after companies closed for Christmas and New Year holidays.

On Thursday, commercial banks quoted the currency of Africa’s second largest copper producer at 21.1050 per dollar from 21.0700 a week ago.

“There are no market-moving events on the calendar and very little activity is expected because most companies are on break,” one commercial bank trader said.

KENYA — The Kenyan shilling is expected to remain stable in the week ahead, as little activity is expected in the market due to end-of-year holidays.

The shilling is at 108.70/108.90 on Thursday, compared with 111.50/111.70 at the end of trading last week.

“As everybody is closing and most guys have squared off their books on Wednesday, we expect minimal activity in the next one week,” said a trader at one commercial bank.

TANZANIA — Tanzania’s shilling is expected to hold steady next week as inflows from companies meeting their end of the month obligations balances the demand of the US dollar in the market which is always driven by energy and manufacturing importers.

Local commercial banks quoted the shilling at 2,314/2,324 against the greenback on Thursday, unchanged from the week earlier.

“We don’t expect any changes in the shilling next week because it will definitely be a week of New Year celebrations where most business activities have slowed down,” a trader in one of the commercial banks in Dar es Salaam said.—Reuters