KAMPALA: The Ugandan shilling was unchanged on Monday amid weak demand and a withdrawal of excess liquidity by the central bank, and traders said it was likely to remain in a stable range this week.
At 1003 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 2,605/2,615, unchanged from Friday's close.
Faisal Bukenya, head of market making at Barclays Bank, said demand for dollars was limited.
"There's a lot of liquidity, but since we've had a mop-up I expect the local unit will keep trading in 2,600-2,620 range," he said.
Bukenya said Bank of Uganda on Monday removed 312 billion shillings ($119.77 million) via repurchase agreements.
The Ugandan shilling is down 3.3 percent against the dollar this year, but demand from importers shipping in goods for year-end holiday shoppers is expected to keep it under moderate pressure in the medium term.
A market note from KCB Uganda said this week's Treasury bill auction is likely to support the local currency."
This week the central bank is due to auction 145 billion shillings worth of Treasury bills of all maturities.
Traders say with inflation low, current rates on Ugandan debt are attractive to offshore investors whose hard currency inflows are a key prop for the shilling.
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