KAMPALA: The Ugandan shilling fell on Monday due to dollar demand from importers, with further demand for dollars expected from them when they meet their end-of-month trading commitments.
At 1120 GMT, commercial banks in Kampala quoted the shilling at 2,605/2,615, weaker than Friday's close of 2,595/2,605.
"The shilling has depreciated on the back of demand largely from corporate players in the oil and manufacturing sectors," said Faisal Bukenya, head of market making at Barclays Bank.
"We anticipate the shilling will trade with a weakening bias this week because there will be end-of-month conversions coming in from players in the same sector."
Some traders say the shilling will stay in a weakening trend ahead of the budget reading in early June, when the government is expected to announce tax hikes to meet fiscal pressures.
The statistics office is also due to release Uganda's May inflation data on Friday and some traders are waiting to see if it holds any clues on the central bank's June rate meeting. It has held rates 12 percent for five months despite low inflation.
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